Clause 190 - Surveillance powers
Enterprise Bill
6:30 pm
Mr Jonathan Djanogly (Huntingdon, Conservative)
Is it right to give the chairman of the OFT, who will most likely be a business man selected by the Government, the power to authorise the planting of surveillance equipment in residential or hotel premises or private vehicles? In an earlier debate, the Under-Secretary said that would happen only where it had to be done urgently. One can normally have access to a judge fairly urgently and I do not think that this proposal is appropriate. Why is the use of surveillance not to be authorised by a judge on a case-by-case basis? Is there any precedent for such surveillance powers to be given on this basis or will the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 set a new course in that respect?