Letter: Bringing MI5 under control
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Letter: Bringing MI5 under control
Sir: The controversy around MI5 ("Police to investigate MI5 leak", 28 August) serves to highlight, once again, the inadequacies of the present systems in ensuring democratic and judicial control over the Security Service.
Legislation may have empowered a parliamentary committee to oversee the functioning of the Security Service, but the committee has frequently been denied access to documents outlining operational matters. Nor does the individual complaints system provide for adequate safeguards: the commissioner appointed to consider complaints can neither review the "reasonableness" of individual operations nor give reasons for his decision. To date, he has not been able to find in favour of a single complainant.
With the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights, the UK government will have to provide an effective remedy for individuals whose rights have been breached. It has already been criticised by the European Court of Human Rights for its failure to provide effective remedies to individuals subject to interceptions on private telephone systems. It seems likely that the current safeguards against unreasonable exercise of power by the Security Services will also fall foul of convention requirements.
PETER NOORLANDER
JUSTICE researcher
London EC4
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments