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 matter with which we are dealing. As part of this commitment to openness we are publishing an Advisory Notice which has been issued internally, following extensive discussions with the Judicial Commissioners.

This Notice has been agreed in order to provide a guide as to how the Judicial Commissioners will approach the information available to them when deciding whether to approve or refuse the Secretary of State’s decision to issue a warrant under IPA 2016. This is to ensure there is a clear understanding as to how the Commissioners will undertake this important task. We are clear, however, that the Notice does not bind the Judicial Commissioners in the exercise of this judicial function.

We will keep this notice under continuous review, and it is likely it will be amended over time once we have experience of the new warrantry regime and we have received feedback.