Interception
Section 56 of the IPA 2016 makes it clear that any intercepted communication and any secondary data obtained from a communication is excluded from being used in or for legal proceedings. There are exceptions to this set out in Schedule 3 to the IPA 2016.
	Although an exception applies in respect of parole proceedings in Northern Ireland (paragraph 13 of Schedule 3), Parole Board proceedings in England and Wales do not currently benefit from an exemption. This means that panel members of the Parole Board for England and Wales are unable to review key interception materials as evidence to make parole considerations. It is Government policy that panel members of a Parole Board need to be able to review intercepted materials to make more informed assessments as to the risk of harm to the public from terrorists and other dangerous prisoners by considering all classified materials. The Act therefore amends the IPA 2016, allowing intercepted communications and relevant secondary data to be considered in proceedings before the Parole Board and proceedings that arise out of those hearings.
	Another exception is being introduced as an amendment to Schedule 3 to the IPA 2016 to give relevant Northern Ireland coroners and Scottish sheriffs conducting investigations into deaths the power to review intercepted materials in line with their counterparts in England and Wales. This enables relevant coroners in Northern Ireland and sheriffs in Scotland the opportunity to review all relevant evidence in inquiries and inquests related to deaths in Northern Ireland and Scotland.