Section 226BB[^F1Approval of authorisations by Judicial Commissioners

(1) In deciding whether to approve a decision to grant an individual authorisation or a category authorisation, a Judicial Commissioner must review the conclusions of the person who granted the authorisation as to the following matters—

• (a)
  in relation to an individual authorisation, whether section 226A applies to the bulk personal dataset described in the authorisation, and
• (b)
  in relation to a category authorisation, whether section 226A applies to any dataset that falls within the category of datasets described in the authorisation.

(2) In doing so, the Judicial Commissioner must—

• (a)
  apply the same principles as would be applied by a court on an application for judicial review, and
• (b)
  consider the matters referred to in subsection (1) with a sufficient degree of care as to ensure that the Judicial Commissioner complies with the duties imposed by section 2 (general duties in relation to privacy).

(3) Where a Judicial Commissioner refuses to approve a decision to grant an individual authorisation or a category authorisation, the Judicial Commissioner must give the person who decided to grant the authorisation written reasons for the refusal.

(4) Where a Judicial Commissioner, other than the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, refuses to approve a decision to grant an individual authorisation or a category authorisation, the head of the intelligence service, or a person acting on their behalf, may ask the Investigatory Powers Commissioner to decide whether to approve the decision to grant the authorisation.]