Interception of Communications Act 1985

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make new provision for and in connection with the interception of communications sent by post or by means of public telecommunication systems and to amend section 45 of the Telecommunications Act 1984.
Citation	1985 c. 56
Territorial extent	England and Wales, Northern Ireland
Dates
Royal assent	25 July 1985
Commencement	10 April 1986
Other legislation
Repealed by	Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Interception of Communications Act 1985 (1985 c. 56) was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It came into operation as of 10 April 1986.

The Act created the offence of unlawfully intercepting communications sent by post or by a "public telecommunications system"; those guilty were liable, on conviction, to a fine or up to two years imprisonment. It provided for a system of warrants to permit legal interception, and laid down cases where interception could be done lawfully, stating that having reasonable grounds to believe that the other party consented to interception was a defence.

The Act also established a complaints tribunal (which in 2000 was subsumed into the Investigatory Powers Tribunal), and created the post of Interception of Communications Commissioner to review the workings of the Act. It amended parts of the Telecommunications Act 1984.

This Act has since been repealed by schedule 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

• Secrecy of correspondence
• Malone v UK
• United Kingdom constitutional law

• Whitaker's Almanack: for the year 1987, complete edition, p. 363. J. Whitaker & Sons, London, 1986
• Sections of the Interception of Communications Act 1985 as passed

This legislation in the United Kingdom, or its constituent jurisdictions, article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e