Modification of warrants

Part of Investigatory Powers Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 12:15 pm on 14 April 2016.

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Photo of Robert Buckland Robert Buckland The Solicitor-General 12:15, 14 April 2016

The hon. Gentleman makes an extremely good point. That is why we are putting clause 30 in—because there is a danger, under the existing legislation, that a warrant can be drafted quite widely without having to come back and amend it in order to add extra names. I take his point, but I do not believe the clause will create a perverse incentive; on the contrary, I think it is vital. For those who draft the terms of the warrants, it will focus their minds on getting it right in the first place, so that we do not end up with the sort of mischief that he quite rightly warns about.