Prime Minister appoints new Judicial Commissioner
Prime Minister appoints new Judicial Commissioner The Prime Minister has appointed the Hon Sir Tim Kerr as a Judicial Commissioner…
2026
Lord Leveson: Investigatory Powers Commissioner made a peer
Lord Leveson: Investigatory Powers Commissioner made a peer IPCO is pleased to announce that the Investigatory Powers Commissioner was on…
Sir John Goldring Retires as Deputy Investigatory Powers Commissioner
Sir Brian Leveson, Investigatory Powers Commissioner, announces the retirement of Sir John Goldring as Deputy Investigatory Powers Commissioner. Sir John…
Prime Minister appoints new Judicial Commissioner
Prime Minister appoints new Judicial Commissioner The Prime Minister has appointed Sir James Goss as a Judicial Commissioner to support…
Dame Muffy Calder reappointed as Chair of IPCO’s Technology Advisory Panel
Dame Muffy Calder reappointed as Chair of IPCO’s Technology Advisory Panel Dame Muffy Calder has been reappointed as Chair of…
Previous years
2025
Publication of Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s 2024 Annual Report
Publication of Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s 2024 Annual Report The 2024 Annual Report by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, Sir Brian Leveson,…
Prime Minister reappoints Sir Brian Leveson as the UK’s Investigatory Powers Commissioner
Prime Minister reappoints Sir Brian Leveson as the UK’s Investigatory Powers Commissioner The Prime Minister has reappointed Sir Brian Leveson…
Prime Minister appoints two new IPCO Judicial Commissioners
The Prime Minister has appointed two new Judicial Commissioners to support the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, Sir Brian Leveson, to independently…
Publication of Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s 2023 Annual Report
Publication of Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s 2023 Annual Report The 2023 Annual Report by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, Sir Brian Leveson…
IPCO’s Technology Advisory Panel (TAP) AI Proportionality Assessment Framework
IPCO’s Technology Advisory Panel (TAP) release AI Proportionality Assessment Framework to Guide Ethical AI Development The Technology Advisory Panel (TAP)…
A Lawyer Talks Podcast
In the newest episode of ‘A Lawyer Talks’, The Investigatory Powers Commissioner (IPC), Sir Brian Leveson spoke to Joshua Rozenberg…
2024
Prime Minister reappoints four IPCO Judicial Commissioners
The Prime Minister has reappointed four Judicial Commissioners to independently oversee and authorise the use of investigatory powers. Sir Peter…
Report published on oversight and use of investigatory powers
The latest report by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner has been published. The 2022 Annual Report details the use and oversight…
New phone numbers
We have installed a new phone system in our London office, which means there are new numbers for general queries,…
Sir Brian Leveson announces the merger of IPCO and OCDA
The Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office (IPCO) and the Office for Communications Data Authorisations (OCDA) have completed their merger. The combined…
2023
New Chief Executive appointed
Richard Thompson OBE has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office (IPCO). Richard takes…
OCDA assesses one million applications
The Office for Data Communications Authorisations (OCDA) recently assessed the one millionth application since it came into operation in March…
Judicial Commissioners reappointed
Six Judicial Commissioners have been reappointed for another three-year term under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA). Judicial Commissioners work…
Sir Brian Leveson publishes report on oversight of covert powers
The Investigatory Powers Commissioner, Sir Brian Leveson, has published his 2021 Annual Report on the use and oversight of covert investigatory…
New Judicial Commissioner Appointed
Sir Nigel Sweeney has been appointed as a Judicial Commissioner to support the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, Sir Brian Leveson. Sir…
Oversight of the UK-US Data Access Agreement
IPCO has today published an Advisory Notice outlining how its oversight of the UK-US Data Access Agreement (the Agreement) is…
2022
UK hosts European Intelligence Oversight Conference
Organisations which oversee the work of the intelligence agencies across Europe gathered earlier this month in London for the annual…
Sir Brian Leveson to continue role as Investigatory Powers Commissioner
The Prime Minister has reappointed Sir Brian Leveson as the UK’s Investigatory Powers Commissioner for a second three-year term. The…
Two new Judicial Commissioners appointed
Two new Judicial Commissioners have been appointed to support the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, Sir Brian Leveson. Sir Nigel Davis and…
Prime Minister appoints two new Judicial Commissioners
Two Judicial Commissioners have been appointed by the Prime Minister to support the work of Sir Brian Leveson, the Investigatory…
New Chair of the Technology Advisory Panel appointed
The Investigatory Powers Commissioner, Sir Brian Leveson, has appointed a new Chair of the Technology Advisory Panel (TAP). Professor Dame…
Report published on UK use of covert powers
The Investigatory Powers Commissioner, Sir Brian Leveson, has published his Annual Report on the use of covert investigatory powers by…
2021
New Judicial Commissioners Appointed
The Prime Minister has appointed three new Judicial Commissioners. Sir Peter Gross, Sir Duncan Ouseley and Sir Michael Supperstone will…
2020
Investigatory Powers Commissioner reports on UK use of covert powers
The Investigatory Powers Commissioner, Sir Brian Leveson, has published his Annual Report on the use of covert investigatory powers by public authorities.…
Judicial Commissioners reappointed
The Prime Minister has reappointed 11 of the original Judicial Commissioners for a further three-year term under the Investigatory Powers…
Oversight of UK and USA Data Access Agreement
New regulations have been introduced requiring the UK’s Investigatory Powers Commissioner to oversee the UK’s use of the UK-US Bilateral…
Temporary Judicial Commissioners appointed
The Investigatory Powers Commissioner (IPC), Sir Brian Leveson, has now appointed ten temporary Judicial Commissioners under the Coronavirus Act 2020.…
Coronavirus Act 2020: maintaining oversight of investigatory powers
The Coronavirus Act 2020 allows the Investigatory Powers Commissioner to appoint temporary Judicial Commissioners and permits the time periods for…
Publication of Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Annual Report
The Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office (IPCO) has published its Annual Report on the oversight of the use of covert powers…
2019
Oversight of The Principles
Through a formal Direction, the Prime Minister has instructed the Investigatory Powers Commissioner (IPC) to oversee and report on the…
Intelligence watchdogs gather in The Hague
Last week the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, Sir Brian Leveson, joined his European counterparts for the annual European Intelligence Oversight Conference.…
Australia’s terror legislation watchdog consults UK partners
Last week, Australia’s Independent National Security Legislation Monitor (INSLM), Dr James Renwick, visited London as part of his national security…
Five Eyes oversight organisations meet in London
Last week the Five Eyes intelligence oversight organisations gathered to discuss ongoing cooperation and areas of interest. Each of the…
Compliance inspections of MI5 complete
In the wake of IT compliance issues identified earlier in the year, the Investigatory Powers Commissioner (IPC) has now concluded…
UN’s International Intelligence Oversight Forum meets in London
Last week the UN’s International Intelligence Oversight Forum (IIOF) took place in London to discuss the future of intelligence oversight…
PM appoints new Investigatory Powers Commissioner
The Prime Minister has today announced the appointment of Sir Brian Leveson as the new Investigatory Powers Commissioner (IPC). The…
Review of Consolidated Guidance
The Prime Minister has today published The Principles relating to the detention and interviewing of detainees overseas and the passing…
Update on the review of the Consolidated Guidance
In a written statement to Parliament on 28 June 2018 the Prime Minister invited me to make proposals to the…
Lord Justice Fulford to be appointed Vice-President of Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
Investigatory Powers Commissioner The Lord Chief Justice has today announced that Lord Justice Fulford will succeed Lady Justice Hallett as…
Written Ministerial Statement on retention and disclosure of material
The Home Secretary has today laid a Written Ministerial Statement in the House of Commons on the Investigatory Powers Act…
UPDATE – IPCO 2017 Annual Report – revised copy published 21 March 2019
Subsequent to the laying in Parliament of our 2017 Annual Report on 31st January (ISBN 978-1-5286-0971-5), a small number of …
IPC responds to Juvenile CHIS Enquiry
On 8 March 2019, the Rt Hon. Lord Justice Fulford responded to the Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP’s enquiry…
IPCO 2017 Annual Report Published 31 January 2019
The Prime Minister has today laid our 2017 Annual Report in Parliament. The Investigatory Powers Commissioner, Sir Adrian Fulford, made…
IPCO Statement on 12 December 2018 Chatham House Discussions
On 12 December 2018, on behalf of the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, Lord Anderson of Ipswich KBE QC hosted an invitation-only…
2018
Event – Commonwealth Ombudsman Visit
The Commonwealth recently met the Investigatory Powers Commissioner Sir Adrian Fulford to discuss their respective oversight regimes. They discussed shared…
Safeguards governing investigatory powers now in effect
All warrants permitting the use of investigatory powers are now subject to the double-lock safeguard requiring approval from one of…
Strengthening oversight: the exchange of data between intelligence and security services
On 14th November 2018, five oversight bodies from Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland issued a joint statement concerning…
The consultation on the Consolidated Guidance has now ended
The consultation on the Consolidated Guidance has now ended. We received a number of valuable submissions and would like to…
IPCO’s response to juvenile CHIS
Following recent Parliamentary debates on the use of juveniles as Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS), the Chair of the Joint…
IPCO Consultation on Consolidated Guidance
Further to the Prime Minister’s request on Thursday 28 June 2018 for the Investigatory Powers Commissioner to make proposals to…
Interception of Communications Commissioner of the Isle of Man Meeting
Our legal team recently met with Susie Alegre, the Interception of Communications Commissioner (IoCC) of the Isle of Man. We…
Office of the Communications Security Establishment Commissioner Visit
The Office of the Communications Security Establishment Commissioner (OCSEC), the Honourable Jean-Pierre Plouffe, recently met the Investigatory Powers Commissioner and his officials…
UN Special Rapporteur visit
Professor Joseph A. Cannataci, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy recently met IPCO senior staff. We discussed…
IPCO attends Human Rights in a Digital Age (HRBDT) Conference
The Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office IPCO Interim Chief Executive Graham Webber gave an explanation of the organisation’s investigatory powers at…
Responses to the IPC’s request for submissions on bulk powers
The following letters have been received in response to the IPC’s request for submissions on bulk powers: Graham Smith –…
A year in the making by Emily, Project Manager at IPCO
I joined IPCO a year ago, when we were a discombobulated band scattered across disparate offices in the Home Office.…
IPCO’s response to ISC report on Detainee Mistreatment and Rendition
The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament has published its reports on Detainee Mistreatment and Rendition. We welcome the ISC’s…
IPCO collaboration with the University of Essex By Legal & Policy Team
At IPCO we are committed to being as open and transparent as we can be and demystifying as much of…
IPC Submissions on bulk powers
On Wednesday 23 May 2018 we wrote to a number of NGOs regarding bulk powers. We would welcome responses from…
A message from the Commissioner by Sir Adrian Fulford
After all of the work that has been needed to set up IPCO – acquiring new premises and equipment; recruiting…
IPCO’s Advisory Notice on the Approval of Warrants, Authorisations and Notices by Judicial Commissioners
IPCO is committed to being open and transparent, within the limits of the law and the constraints of the subject…
Security Service guidelines on the use of agents
The Prime Minister today published the text of a direction to the Investigatory Powers Commissioner to keep under review the…
Direction on Consolidated Guidance
Last August, the Prime Minister wrote to the Investigatory Powers Commissioner asking him to continue the oversight of the Consolidated…
2017
Annual Report
The Annual Reports from our precursor bodies (Office of Surveillance Commissioners, Interception of Communications Commissioner’s Office & Intelligence Services Commissioner)…
Appointment of Judicial Commissioners
IPCO has announced the appointment of 13 Judicial Commissioners.
Open Response
On Friday 13 October we published our open response to Privacy International, Liberty, Big Brother Watch, and the Open Rights…
Press Release – IPCO Launch
The new Investigatory Powers Commissioner (IPC), Lord Justice Fulford, takes on responsibility for regulating and overseeing how public authorities use…
First Investigatory Powers Commissioner announced
The Prime Minister has approved the appointment of Lord Justice Fulford as the first Investigatory Powers Commissioner for a 3-year…