Briefly Noted

Abstract

On May 15, 2019, the U.K. Supreme Court ruled in R (Privacy International) v. Investigatory Powers Tribunal and others that that the extent of the U.K. government's power to hack into internet services is subject to judicial review. The case concerned whether the British Parliament was sufficiently clear in drafting an “ouster” clause in an attempt to keep the decisions of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), which oversees challenges to the U.K. intelligence services, from review by other courts. It was instigated in the aftermath of Edward Snowden's disclosures of the U.K. government's bulk hacking techniques when Privacy International challenged them in the IPT. After the IPT sided with the government, Privacy International sought judicial review, and ultimately the Supreme Court determined that the language of the ouster clause was insufficiently clear, and consequently, the IPT is now subject to oversight by U.K. courts.