New laws 'urgently required' to spy on criminals says judge

TJ McIntyre questioned the judge’s calls, saying they fail to take into account “very serious” privacy issues as determined by domestic and European courts. Picture: Leah Farrell/Rollingnews.ie

New laws are “urgently required” to allow crime and security agencies to intercept encrypted communications, a judge charged with supervising spying legislation has said.

Mr Justice Charles Meenan has warned the Government that, unless current legislation on phone tapping is brought up to date, the law faces becoming “obsolete”, with the result of “hampering” criminal investigations and compromising national security.