Part 2: Lawful interception of communications Chapter 1: Interception and examination with a warrant Section 33: Renewal of warrants
Subsections (1) to (3) state that a warrant may be renewed by the Secretary of State or, in the case of a warrant issued by the Scottish Ministers, a member of the Scottish Government. In order to be renewed, a warrant must remain necessary and proportionate, applying the same tests as for issuing a warrant. As with an application for an interception warrant, the decision to renew the warrant must also be approved by a Judicial Commissioner. The additional protections for Members of Parliament, etc. (see section 26), for legally privileged material (see section 27), for confidential journalistic material (section 28), and for sources of journalistic information (section 29) apply when renewing warrants as they do when issuing warrants. A warrant may not be renewed more than 30 days in advance of the warrant ceasing to have effect.