Written evidence to be reported to the House
Counter-Terrorism Bill
4:00 pm
Sir Ken Macdonald: It should all be admissible, subject to the normal rules of evidence and subject to us not disclosing material that would compromise national security or the capability of the agencies. Currently, mail intercepts are perfectly admissible, as too are bugs in rooms and in telephone handsets. In essence, what is not admissible is material that is tapped in a more sophisticated way. Everything else is currently admissible, and we rely on it. We also rely on intercept material from abroad, which we use to very good effect. Recently, we got a string of convictions in people trafficking cases and guilty pleas as a result of intercepts sent to us by the German police, I think—certainly, it came from continental police. That happens quite frequently. They are always surprised when we tell them that we can use their intercept, but not ours.