Section 226GB[^F1Approval of third party BPD warrants issued in urgent cases

(1) This section applies where—

• (a)
  a third party BPD warrant is issued without the approval of a Judicial Commissioner, and
• (b)
  the Secretary of State considered that there was an urgent need to issue it.

(2) The Secretary of State must inform a Judicial Commissioner that it has been issued.

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

• (a)
  decide whether to approve the decision to issue the warrant, and
• (b)
  notify the Secretary of State of the Judicial Commissioner’s decision.

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

(4) Subsections (5) and (6) apply if a Judicial Commissioner refuses to approve the decision to issue a third party BPD warrant.

(5) The warrant—

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

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

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

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

• (a)
  anything done in reliance on the warrant before it ceases to have effect;
• (b)
  if anything is in the process of being done in reliance on the warrant 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.]