Investigatory Powers Act 2016

215 Modification of warrants U.K.

(1) The provisions of a class BPD warrant or a specific BPD warrant may be modified at any time by an instrument issued by the person making the modification.

(2) The only modifications which may be made under this section are—

(a) in the case of a class BPD warrant, adding, varying or removing any operational purpose specified in the warrant as a purpose for which bulk personal datasets of a class described in the warrant may be examined;

(b) in the case of a specific BPD warrant, adding, varying or removing any operational purpose specified in the warrant as a purpose for which the bulk personal dataset described in the warrant may be examined.

(3) In this section—

(a) a modification adding or varying any operational purpose is referred to as a “major modification”, and

(b) a modification removing any operational purpose is referred to as a “minor modification”.

(4) A major modification—

(a) must be made by the Secretary of State, and

(b) may be made only if the Secretary of State considers that it is necessary on any of the grounds on which the Secretary of State considers the warrant to be necessary (see section 204(3)(a) or (as the case may be) section 205(6)(a)).

(5) Except where the Secretary of State considers that there is an urgent need to make the modification, a major modification has effect only if the decision to make the modification is approved by a Judicial Commissioner.

(6) A minor modification may be made by—

(a) the Secretary of State, or

(b) a senior official acting on behalf of the Secretary of State.

(7) Where a minor modification is made by a senior official, the Secretary of State must be notified personally of the modification and the reasons for making it.

(8) If at any time a person mentioned in subsection (6) considers that any operational purpose specified in a warrant is no longer a purpose for which the examination of any bulk personal datasets to which the warrant relates is or may be necessary, the person must modify the warrant by removing that operational purpose.

(9) The decision to modify the provisions of a class BPD warrant or a specific BPD warrant must be taken personally by the person making the modification, and the instrument making the modification must be signed by that person.

This is subject to subsection (10).

(10) If it is not reasonably practicable for an instrument making a major modification to be signed by the Secretary of State, the instrument may be signed by a senior official designated by the Secretary of State for that purpose.

(11) In such a case, the instrument making the modification must contain a statement that—

(a) it is not reasonably practicable for the instrument to be signed by the Secretary of State, and

(b) the Secretary of State has personally and expressly authorised the making of the modification.

Commencement Information

I1 S. 215 in force at 22.8.2018 by S.I. 2018/873, reg. 3(c)