When exercising a search warrant, Irish law enforcement agencies are not allowed to bulk copy electronic data (including entire email accounts) for later off-site review by investigators, according to a recent ruling of the High Court.

Bulk copying of electronic files “will almost certainly, perhaps inevitably” capture material outside the scope of any investigation, the court found. Accordingly, searching that material would be “an entirely unwarranted – not to mention egregious – transgression of the right to privacy” in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (and, for that matter, the Irish Constitution). One possible solution to this ruling – that investigators search emails on-site – is potentially stymied by the court’s clear and repeat identification of the search of emails as an unlawful privacy intrusion.

This verdict will not make life easier for Irish investigators, writes Philip Andrews (head of the Competition, EU and Regulated Markets Group at McCann FitzGerald and co-author of Modern Irish Competition Law). You can read his full article on the background to the ruling, and its implications, in the August/September Gazette.

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