The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 ('RIPA') was enacted to ensure that any surveillance of people or premises complies with current Human Rights legislation.
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 ('RIPA') regulates the work of the Council in the key areas of enforcement and prosecutions and provides a legal framework for the Council to carry out surveillance which is not intrusive and is undertaken for the purposes of a specific investigation or a specific operation in such a manner as is likely to result in the obtaining of private information about a person. This is known as Directed Surveillance.
The Act also regulates the Council's use of undercover officers or informants to obtain information. Under the Act they are referred to as Covert Human Intelligence Services.
It is necessary for the Council to have a policy in order to describe and record they way in which the Authority complies with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.