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... And today's utterly bizarre story from the world of semi-secret court hearings is....
Two MI6 officers accused of interfering with an independent tribunal by telephoning its secretary to say that she mustn't let one of the UK's top judges see top secret documents...
Two MI6 officers accused of interfering with an independent tribunal by telephoning its secretary to say that she mustn't let one of the UK's top judges see top secret documents...
... the incident happened in March last year and has only been disclosed today at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. That's the semi-secret body that hears and rules on complaints against intelligence agencies. This is what happened:
The IPT was preparing evidence, mostly secret documents, in a big case about whether spying agencies can authorise their informants to commit crimes. (I didn't say this was simple).
In March 2019, two MI6 officers called the IPT's Secretary and declared a) it should not have been given some secret documents which were relevant to the case and b) they should definitely not be read by Lord Justice Singh - head of the Tribunal and a very, very senior judge.
The Secretary wrote to MI6 a very polite - but firm - letter telling them to sling their hook.
"It was inappropriate for your staff to seek to intervene in ongoing legal proceedings in the way that they sought to do," she wrote. "The Tribunal is an independent judicial body."
"It was inappropriate for your staff to seek to intervene in ongoing legal proceedings in the way that they sought to do," she wrote. "The Tribunal is an independent judicial body."
She told MI6 that she was also going to send the letter to the independent watchdog that reports on its conduct.
Which she did.
Days later, MI6 wrote back to apologise for the officers calling - and promised they wouldn't be doing it again.
Which she did.
Days later, MI6 wrote back to apologise for the officers calling - and promised they wouldn't be doing it again.
Why does this matter? Campaign groups calling for more scrutiny of intelligence agencies say it amounts to pressure on a judge. The government today sent its top barrister to court to repeat the apology - although it remains unclear why MI6 picked up the phone in the 1st place.
The judge in the case, Lord Justice Singh, says there's now been recognition from MI6 that this should not have happened.
Here's the key part of the letter to MI6 telling it not to bother calling again...
Here's the key part of the letter to MI6 telling it not to bother calling again...
Here's MI6's written apology:
