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UK spooks did not breach the law

by on08 December 2014



Snowden evidence does not show anything illegal

A panel of judges has ruled shows that current system of UK intelligence collection revealed by the Edward Snowden documents does not breach the European Convention of Human Rights.  A case claiming various systems of interception by GCHQ constituted a breach had been brought by Amnesty, Privacy International and others.

Amnesty UK and Privacy International, say they intend to appeal the decision to the European Court of Human Rights. The judges at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) said the disclosures made during this case, which included the legal footing of the intelligence system's activities, had contributed to their decision that the intelligence agencies were not in breach of human rights.

In a written judgment, a panel of IPT judges said: "We have been able to satisfy ourselves that as of today there is no contravention of articles 8 and 10 by reference to those systems.

"We have left open for further argument the question as to whether prior hereto there has been a breach."

James Welch, legal director for civil rights organisation Liberty, pointed out that it was hardly proof that a secretive court thought that secret safeguards shown to it in secret were an adequate protection of privacy.

"The IPT cannot grasp why so many of us are deeply troubled about GCHQ's Tempora operation - a seemingly unfettered power to rifle through our online communications."

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