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Beefed up safeguards should be in place before communications between lawyers and their clients are spied on, the UK’s terror watchdog said in a report on the future of Britain’s surveillance laws.
In a 373-page report, A Question of Trust, David Anderson QC accepted that security and intelligence agencies should have powers to carry out bulk collection of personal communications, but called for greater safeguards in the use of such data.
He recommended that the power to authorise “novel or contentious” requests to intercept communications should move from the hands of minsters to a judicial commissioner, under a new body called the Independent Surveillance and Intelligence Commission.
Acknowledging the importance of legal privilege as the “cornerstone of a society governed by law”, he said special restrictions should apply in relation to communications between lawyers and their clients, with similar considerations for journalists and others who handle privileged information.
The government-commissioned report to examine how the law in this area should be modernised, came in the wake of former US spy Edward Snowdon’s revelations about surveillance.
It was published a few days after two MPs, Labour’s Tom Watson and Conservative David Davis, began their High Court challenge to the legality of the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act (DRIP).
The pair, backed by human rights group Liberty, claim that the emergency law, rushed through Parliament last July, is incompatible with the right to respect for private and family life, and to data protection, under the Human Rights Act and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Bar Chairman Alistair MacDonald QC commented that DRIP and its predecessor, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, require “urgent revision” by Parliament.
“Together they have given dubious legal authority to security services to listen in on communications between lawyers and clients. This undermines legal professional privilege, one of the most important safeguards protecting the fairness of a trial and a doctrine that has existed as a constitutional principle for centuries,” he said.
If the state eavesdrops on privileged communications to gather intelligence, he said clients will feel unable to speak openly with their lawyers. “This has the potential result that defence teams will not even know about perfectly proper defences open to a defendant and will therefore not be able to advance them at trial.”
Beefed up safeguards should be in place before communications between lawyers and their clients are spied on, the UK’s terror watchdog said in a report on the future of Britain’s surveillance laws.
In a 373-page report, A Question of Trust, David Anderson QC accepted that security and intelligence agencies should have powers to carry out bulk collection of personal communications, but called for greater safeguards in the use of such data.
He recommended that the power to authorise “novel or contentious” requests to intercept communications should move from the hands of minsters to a judicial commissioner, under a new body called the Independent Surveillance and Intelligence Commission.
Acknowledging the importance of legal privilege as the “cornerstone of a society governed by law”, he said special restrictions should apply in relation to communications between lawyers and their clients, with similar considerations for journalists and others who handle privileged information.
The government-commissioned report to examine how the law in this area should be modernised, came in the wake of former US spy Edward Snowdon’s revelations about surveillance.
It was published a few days after two MPs, Labour’s Tom Watson and Conservative David Davis, began their High Court challenge to the legality of the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act (DRIP).
The pair, backed by human rights group Liberty, claim that the emergency law, rushed through Parliament last July, is incompatible with the right to respect for private and family life, and to data protection, under the Human Rights Act and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Bar Chairman Alistair MacDonald QC commented that DRIP and its predecessor, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, require “urgent revision” by Parliament.
“Together they have given dubious legal authority to security services to listen in on communications between lawyers and clients. This undermines legal professional privilege, one of the most important safeguards protecting the fairness of a trial and a doctrine that has existed as a constitutional principle for centuries,” he said.
If the state eavesdrops on privileged communications to gather intelligence, he said clients will feel unable to speak openly with their lawyers. “This has the potential result that defence teams will not even know about perfectly proper defences open to a defendant and will therefore not be able to advance them at trial.”
Far-ranging month for the Chair of the Bar
Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs, examines the most recent data on alcohol misuse in the UK, and the implications for alcohol testing in family proceedings
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, explains how tailored financial planning can help barristers take control of their finances and plan with confidence
Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs
A £500 donation from AlphaBiolabs has been made to the leading UK charity tackling international parental child abduction and the movement of children across international borders
Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs, outlines the drug and alcohol testing options available for family law professionals, and how a new, free guide can help identify the most appropriate testing method for each specific case
In this wide-ranging interview, Professor Jo Delahunty KC, Family Law KC of the Year, talks to Anthony Inglese CB about the values that shaped her, the moment she found her vocation and, in an intensely personal call to arms, why time is running out for the legal aid Bar
Is the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office process fit for purpose? Women barristers’ experiences of bullying are not being reported or, if they are, they are not making it through the system, says Tana Adkin KC
Thomas Roe KC and Andrew O’Kola respond to an article by Dr Leonardo Raznovich (Counsel , October 2025) – ‘Privy Council colonialism? Piercing the constitutional veil’
Chair of the Bar reports back
The client’s best interests could be well-served by sharing the advocacy with junior counsel more often than you might think – Naomi Cunningham and Charlotte Eves explore some less orthodox ways to divide the speaking role
