HL Deb 03 March 1997 vol 578 cc119-20WA
Lord Lester of Herne Hill

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the conferring of powers upon the police to carry out electronic surveillance, contained in the Police Bill, gives effect to the Memorandum of Understanding on the Legal Interception of Telecommunications between the governments of the member states of the European Union; and

(a) Whether they will publish the Memorandum of Understanding on the Legal Interception of Telecommunications, referred to in correspondence with Ministers, Second Report from the European Communities Committee, 1995–96, HL Paper 19, at pages 16–17 and Ninth Report, HL Paper 74, at pages 27–29; and (b) what are the scope and effect of the memorandum.

Baroness Blatch

On 17 January 1995 the Council of the European Union adopted a Resolution by written procedure concerning the Lawful Interception of Telecommunications. The Resolution endorsed certain specified international user requirements for the lawful use of interception by the law enforcement agencies, and called on signatories to take account of them when developing national policies. A Memorandum of Understanding, which covered the same international requirements, was signed on 23 November 1995 by all members of the European Union and Norway. I am arranging for a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding to be placed in the Library.

Part III of the Police Bill is not concerned with the interception of communications, but with authorisation for police operations involving entry on, or interference with, property.