The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Interception of Communications: Code of Practice) Order 2016

Made: 14th January 2016

Coming into force in accordance with article 1

The Secretary of State makes the following Order—

1

This Order may be cited as the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Interception of Communications: Code of Practice) Order 2016and comes into force on the day after the day on which it is made.

2

The revised Code of Practice entitled “Interception of Communications”, laid before Parliament in draft on 4th November 2015, relating to the interception of communications under Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, comes into force on the day after the day on which this Order is made.

Signed

John Hayes — Minister of State — Home Office — 14th January 2016

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Order brings into force the revised code of practice on Interception of Communications prepared under section 71 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (c. 23). The purpose of the code is to set out guidance relating to the interception of communications under Chapter 1 of Part 1 of that Act.

Under section 72(1) of that Act, a person exercising any power or duty in relation to which provision may be made by a code of practice under section 71 must, in doing so, have regard to the code’s provisions (as far as applicable).

The revised code is laid before Parliament with this Order. A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this Order as no impact on business or the voluntary sector is foreseen.

The code of practice will be published by the Stationery Office and copies may be obtained from the Stationery Office bookshops or online shop. The revised code of practice will also be available on the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Codes of Practice pages of the gov.uk website.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 2000 c. 23; section 71 was amended by the Serious Crime Act 2007 (c. 27), section 88, Schedule 4, paragraph 18 and Schedule 12, paragraphs 5 and 25; the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 (c. 9), section 115(1) and Schedule 9, Part 3, paragraphs 6 and 14; the Serious Crime Act 2015 (c. 3), section 83; and by S.I. 2011/1340 and 2014/2042.