EXCLUSIVE: LDP to Propose Warrantless Communications Interception

Tokyo, July 9 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party plans to propose that the government introduce a system allowing administrative agencies to intercept private communications without a court warrant for security purposes, Jiji Press learned on Thursday. The introduction of “administrative interception” is set to be featured in the second proposal of the LDP’s Headquarters for Intelligence Strategy that will be submitted to the government shortly, according to an outline. The initiative will be a major pillar of anti-espionage legislation that the administration of Prime Minister and LDP President Sanae Takaichi aims to enact at an early date, informed sources said. Wiretapping is currently permitted only for criminal investigations under the wiretapping law, which took effect in 2000, and is known as “judicial interception.” By contrast, administrative interception refers to the interception of private communications conducted by administrative agencies for intelligence-gathering or national security purposes. Administrative interception is said to be a long-cherished desire of related organizations to improve their ability to collect information, but it has been severely restricted in light of the secrecy of communications guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution. The LDP’s Headquarters for Intelligence Strategy held an executive meeting Thursday and discussed the outline of the proposal. Members broadly decided to include in their proposal to the government three key points–preventing foreign interference, strengthening information-gathering capabilities and democratic control. To deter foreign interference, the LDP headquarters is considering the enactment of the “foreign interference prevention law,” which aims to detect spies, and the “foreign agent registration law,” which requires individuals and organizations that conduct lobbying activities and similar operations on behalf of foreign governments to register with the Japanese government. Examples in the United States and Britain will also be used as a reference. The LDP will ask the government to prepare legislation to establish the “external intelligence agency” to strengthen its ability to collect information. As a method of democratic control, the LDP will call for strengthening the surveillance of intelligence agencies by the Diet, Japan’s parliament, and independent organizations. The government plans to launch an expert panel this summer to strengthen intelligence capabilities. The LDP intelligence strategy headquarters intends to finalize its proposal as early as next week and incorporate it into the expert panel’s discussions. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]