The new Investigatory Powers Tribunal Rules 2018 came into force on 31 December 2018, revoking the 2000 rules: See here. The 2018 rules apply to all section 7 Human Rights Act 1998 proceedings before the Tribunal and all covert investigatory powers complaints under section 65 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, including those which were made before the new rules came into force.
It remains the case that proceedings in the Tribunal are, broadly, part inquisitorial and part judicial review. The Tribunal is required to carry out its functions “in such a way as to secure that information is not disclosed to an extent, or in a manner, that is contrary to the public interest or prejudicial to national security, the prevention or detection of serious crime, the economic well-being of the United Kingdom or the continued discharge of the functions of any of the intelligence services”: rule 7(1). Rules relating to disclosure, evidence, hearings and publication of reasons are therefore significantly different to those in the County Court and High Court.
The primary purpose of the 2018 rules is to provide an update, to “better reflect current Tribunal practice” as it has evolved since 2000. For instance, rule 9 of the old rules provided that any oral hearing shall be conducted in private. But the Tribunal had decided during the Kennedy litigation in 2003 (available here) that it should hold public hearings where possible. David Anderson QC referred to that ruling in his report, “A Question of Trust”, as the beginning of the Tribunal’s “journey out of the shadows”.
But there are also some new procedural developments, following a Home Office consultation in November 2017, to increase transparency and scrutiny. You can see the Home Office response to the consultation, which contains a pithy summary of the reforms, here.
Another important change, in Part 3 of the rules, brought about by section 242 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, are the provisions for appeals to the Court of Appeal on points of law. And where a complaint has been determined in whole or part in the absence of the complainant, counsel to the Tribunal has a role in seeking to identify any arguable error of law which should be disclosed: rule 12.
Subject to anything in the rules, which are not overly detailed, the Tribunal is entitled to determine its own procedure.