Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (c. 25) – Section 226C – Duration of authorisation
Sections
Section 226C[F1Duration of authorisation
(1) An individual authorisation or a category authorisation ceases to have effect at the end of the relevant period unless—
- (a)it is renewed before the end of that period (see section 226CA), or
- (b)it is cancelled or otherwise ceases to have effect before the end of that period (see sections 226BC, 226CB, and 226CD).
(2) In this section the “relevant period”—
- (a)in the case of an urgent individual authorisation, means the period ending with the fifth working day after the day on which the authorisation was granted;
- (b)in any other case, means the period of 12 months beginning with—
- (i)the day on which the authorisation was granted, or
- (ii)in the case of an authorisation that has been renewed, the day after the day at the end of which the authorisation would have ceased to have effect if it had not been renewed.
- (i)
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2)(a), an individual authorisation is an “urgent individual authorisation” if—
- (a)the authorisation was 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.]
Amended text
This Section is shown as amended by Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Act 2024 (see the annotations below), as incorporated in the text in force on 7 October 2026 as published on legislation.gov.uk.
Annotations
Textual Amendments
- F1 Pt. 7A inserted (14.10.2024) by Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Act 2024 (c. 9), ss. 2, 32(2); S.I. 2024/1021, reg. 2(b)
https://ipa.digiphile.law/article/article-226C.html
Text as at 7 October 2026.
This is an unofficial convenience version of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. It is presented “as is” without guarantee of accuracy, completeness or reliability. See the source text for the official version. This site was last updated in October 2026.