A major review into PSNI surveillance operations focusing on journalists, lawyers and non-governmental organisations has been widened to include the Policing Board and Police Ombudsman.
Ordered by PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher, the review will be carried out by London based lawyer Angus McCullough KC.
In a report to the Policing Board last month the PSNI admitted making 823 applications for communications data for journalists and lawyers over a 13-year period from 2011-2024.
Details of the snooping scandal came to light through the London-based Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), which is examining allegations that two investigative journalists, Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney, were subjected to unlawful surveillance.
The pair made a complaint to the IPT in 2019 over their arrest the previous year in connection with an acclaimed 2017 documentary about the UVF sectarian murder of six men at the Heights Bar in Loughinisland, Co Down, in June 1994.
The IPT looks at complaints from people who believe they have been the victim of unlawful covert interference.
A third journalist, RTÉ's Vincent Kearney, may also have been snooped on.
Earlier this month Aontú leader Peadar Tóibin, who is a TD, said he believed his phone calls with an Irish News journalist may have been secretly recorded by the PSNI.
While journalists, lawyers and non-governmental organisations were initially identified, the review has now been widened to include The Police Ombudsman and Policing Board.
For the purposes of the review those listed have been given ‘special status’ and the scope “may be extended to any other professions or groups with the agreement” of the chief constable.
In an interview earlier this year, Mr McCaffrey told the BBC that in his case “police were physically following an individual from the Police Ombudsman’s Office”.
A spokeswoman for the Police Ombudsman’s Office said: “We are aware that the Office of the Police Ombudsman is included in the Review’s Terms of Reference.”
The Policing Board declined to comment when contacted.
The review’s terms of reference were published this week.
A group of experts and stakeholders (GoES) has been established to advise and give direction to the work of Mr McCullough.
The eight-person panel includes former Police Ombudsman Baroness Nuala O’Loan, Patrick Corrigan from Amnesty International and Daniel Holder of the Committee on the Administration of Justice.
According to the terms of reference Mr McCullough will require written consent from Mr Boutcher in order to disclose information to the panel of experts.
It is also suggested that tests equivalent to Public Interest Immunity (PII) may also be applied in some circumstances.
PII certificates are used by state agencies to conceal information they don’t want placed in the public domain.
In his terms of reference Mr McCullough said: “In seeking to maximise the openness of the review, such disclosure might need to be in ‘gisted’ or redacted form for the purposes of protecting legitimate sensitivities, applying a test equivalent to that for public interest immunity in civil proceedings.”
Mr McCullough added in a statement: “In line with the terms of reference my findings will be set out to the fullest extent possible in public-facing reports, to include any recommendations that appear indicated.
“I am committed to maximising the openness and transparency of my findings and have been assured by the chief constable that he shares that aim.”
