UK: Covert surveillance of Belfast journalists case concludes in London 

Judgment expected before end of year from court investigating claims Northern Ireland journalists were secretly monitored by UK authorities  

Police Service of Northern Ireland and Metropolitan Police admit they broke the law when they secretly accessed journalist’s phone data  

Case tests legal safeguards for all UK journalists against unwarranted surveillance and right to protect sources  

‘The police rode roughshod over the human rights protections which are supposed to safeguard journalists’ – Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International  

The Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) has concluded its hearing investigating a complaint by two Belfast journalists, Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey, who asked it to find out whether police used unlawful intrusive surveillance powers against them. The four-day hearing took place at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Judgment is expected before the end of the year.

Amnesty International attended the hearing and is working to ensure full disclosure of the extent of spying on journalists, lawyers and others by the police.

Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland Director of Amnesty International, said:

“The evidence laid before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal this week makes clear that the police rode roughshod over the human rights protections which are supposed to safeguard journalists.

“Instead of respecting the important role of the media in a free and democratic society, the police have treated journalists and their lawyers as criminal suspects.

“It has now been admitted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Metropolitan Police that they broke the law when they secretly spied on journalist Barry McCaffrey in 2013.

“We now need answers to wider questions about the full extent of police use and misuse of secret surveillance powers against journalists, lawyers and others in Northern Ireland. And, crucially, we must see an end to these practices once and for all.”