Can I press the Minister on what the Government intend by judicial authorisation? The Statement that the Minister repeated says that,
“in future, the warrant will not come into force until it has been formally approved by a judge”.
However, in Clause 19 and many other places, the Bill speaks of a judicial review test, which, as has already been explained, is a matter of assessing reasonableness
and the formality of procedures. The real question is whether the Government intend that the judge will have the power to countermand the initial decision of the Secretary of State if the judge considers that the warrant is either unnecessary or disproportionate.