Dealing with human sources of information in the

Dealing with human sources of information in the CMA

The British system Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) Created idea of the Covert Human Intelligence Source (CHIS) Regulated by Office of Surveillance Commissioners (OSC) Annual inspection Applies to all public authorities Duty of care Importance of confidentiality but absolute guarantees impossible although a judge can grant public interest immunity in criminal cases • To use CHIS, we have to accept all aspects of the system • •

Types of human source • CHIS: can be tasked to covertly pass information to the authorities through the use of a relationship with someone else. Normally kept confidential • Witness: willing to be known to have given evidence • Other (sometimes known as a confidential contact): someone who has no access to current or new information but can tell us about historic matters and wants confidentiality • Contact generally comes through cartels hotline

How we manage sources • Specially selected and trained staff • Annual update training • Senior management authorisation

Rewards • Timing and amount are at the CMA’s discretion: no appeal • Takes into account risk to source, difficulty of source’s role, value of information, significance of case • No reward if leniency programme used • Paid in cash and regarded as a gift • Completely confidential, even within the CMA: we tell no one and release no statistics

CMA experience thus far • Motivations similar to leniency programme • Operates for us in the same way as for every other British law enforcement agency • Utility depends on national culture • Informing is a normal law enforcement tool in UK • We do not comment on which cases arise from human sources • It is an effective tool for us but that doesn’t mean it will work for everyone