Section 226BC[^F1Approval of individual authorisations granted in urgent cases

(1) This section applies where—

• (a)
  an individual authorisation is granted without the approval of a Judicial Commissioner, and
• (b)
  the person who granted the authorisation considered that there was an urgent need to grant it.

(2) The person who granted the authorisation must inform a Judicial Commissioner that it has been granted.

(3) The Judicial Commissioner must, before the end of the relevant period—

• (a)
  decide whether to approve the decision to grant the authorisation, and
• (b)
  notify the person who granted the authorisation of the Judicial Commissioner’s decision.

The “relevant period” means the period ending with the third working day after the day on which the authorisation was granted.

(4) Subsections (5) to (7) apply if a Judicial Commissioner refuses to approve the decision to grant an individual authorisation.

(5) The authorisation—

• (a)
  ceases to have effect (unless already cancelled), and
• (b)
  may not be renewed,

and section 226BB(4) does not apply in relation to the refusal to approve the decision.

(6) The head of the intelligence service must, so far as is reasonably practicable, secure that anything in the process of being done in reliance on the authorisation stops as soon as possible.

(7) Section 220 (Part 7 initial examinations: time limits) applies in relation to the bulk personal dataset described in the authorisation as if the intelligence service had obtained that dataset at the time when the person who granted the authorisation is notified that the Judicial Commissioner has refused to approve the decision to grant the authorisation.

(8) Nothing in subsection (5) or (6) affects the lawfulness of—

• (a)
  anything done in reliance on the authorisation before it ceases to have effect;
• (b)
  if anything is in the process of being done in reliance on the authorisation when it ceases to have effect—

  • (i)
    anything done before that thing could be stopped, or
  • (ii)
    anything done that it is not reasonably practicable to stop.]