Dr. T.J. McIntyre:

A number of members referred to the Murray report. I want to elaborate on some points in that regard. Some members spoke about particular aspects such as authorisation, oversight and the lack of any definition of national security, which is, incidentally, required by the European Court of Human Rights. In the case of Zakharov v. Russia, it is made clear that surveillance measures must be associated with a definition of national security so that the circumstances in which surveillance measures may be used is foreseeable. While members referred to individual aspects of the Murray report that are not reflected in this legislation, rather than look at the details, it may be useful to step back a little bit and consider the overall position. The Murray report made in excess of 50 individual recommendations as to changes to the existing scheme which were necessary for compliance with European fundamental rights standards. These were not changes that were nice to have or just desirable but changes the former Chief Justice saw as essential. By my count, only one of these recommendations has been met in this proposal, that is, the adoption of independent judicial authorisation for access to data. No other recommendation has been addressed. Similarly, judging from a quick scan of the report of this committee's predecessor from 2018 in the limited time available, again, only the requirement for independent judicial authorisation has been addressed. As other speakers have already pointed out, there has been no attempt to address subsequent developments such as the very recent judgment of the Court of Appeal requiring additional protection for access to journalists' sources. Ultimately, it seems there is a fundamental disrespect on the part of the Department for the work done by the predecessor to this committee in its pre-legislative scrutiny and for the work of the former Chief Justice. To my mind, no legislation in this area should be adopted without these recommendations and the essential requirements that have been identified being taken into account.