CONCERNS have been raised about proposed new legislation that would allow MI5 and police agents to break the law.
The Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) Bill, which was introduced at Westminster yesterday, would allow “a limited number of public authorities to continue to authorise participation in criminality, in carefully managed circumstances”.
Security minister James Brokenshire said in the course of vital work, it "may be necessary for agents to participate in criminal activity in order to gain the trust of those under investigation".
However, Sinn Féin policing spokesman Gerry Kelly claimed it represented the British government "placing agents above the rule of law and giving a green light to carry out serious crimes which could include murder".
Daniel Holder, Deputy Director of the Committee on the Administration of Justice, also said: “Informant-based collusion with paramilitary groups was one of the patterns of human rights violations that fuelled and prolonged the conflict here."
