Law and Disorder Beth v The Security Service: do we have the right checks on investigatory powers?
Nov 29, 2025
Join Charlotte Kilroy KC, a barrister specializing in public law and human rights, as she dives into the controversial world of undercover policing. Explore the case of Beth, a victim of domestic abuse by an MI5 informant, and the implications of investigatory powers. Charlotte unpacks the balance between national security and personal rights while revealing the troubling practices within MI5, including the NCND principle and the lack of transparency in oversight. This eye-opening discussion sheds light on the urgent need for reform.
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REPA’s Unified Surveillance Framework
- REPA consolidated five major covert powers into a single statutory framework covering intercepts, data, intrusive and directed surveillance, and CHIS.
- The Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) was created to provide a specialist means of challenging state surveillance decisions.
Many Public Bodies Can Spy
- A far wider range of public bodies than the public assumes can deploy directed surveillance and CHIS, from HMRC to the Charity Commission.
- Human informants (CHIS) are treated as legally less intrusive than interception, with looser authorization rules.
Necessity And Proportionality Rule
- Legal limits on covert activity rest on statutory purposes plus necessity and proportionality under human rights law.
- Serious threats permit greater intrusion, but sexual relationships by undercover agents have been judged unjustified.