Surveillance watchdog finds 10 breaches in agency spying
Surveillance watchdog seeks more powers over approval of covert operations by law enforcers after 10 violations are found
The surveillance watchdog has called for more power to check the spying operations of law enforcers as its latest report revealed there were 10 cases of "non-compliance" with the rules or "irregularities" last year.
A total of 1,412 spying applications from four agencies - customs, police, immigration, and the Independent Commission Against Corruption - were approved last year. Of these, 1,365 were for wiretapping, in some cases for as long as 43 days.
The rest were for covert surveillance lasting five days on average. The operations led to the arrest of 261 suspects.
Commissioner on Interception of Communications and Surveillance Mr Justice Darryl Saw noted 10 cases of "non-compliance" or "irregularities".
In one case, the law enforcers did not include an assessment of the likelihood of obtaining legal professional privilege or journalistic materials in the application. The commissioner said failure to include "such a fundamental statutory requirement in an application is a serious matter".
While Saw was satisfied these "non-compliance" cases were not due to "deliberate disregard" of the law or the code of practice, he called for a revision to allow him to hear intercepted materials to investigate possible violations.