In a judgment handed down on 23 July 2026, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (comprising Lady Carmichael, President, Mr Justice Chamberlain, and Mr Stephen Shaw KC) determined that MI5 and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) unlawfully accessed the communications data of Vincent Kearney between 2006 and 2018. At the time, Mr Kearney was the Home Affairs Correspondent for BBC Northern Ireland; he currently serves as RTÉ’s Northern Editor. Rachel Toney acted as junior Counsel to the Tribunal, led by Jonathan Glasson KC.
The issue came to light through disclosures in a separate claim before the Tribunal (in which Rachel also acted as junior Counsel to the Tribunal), which revealed public authorities’ interference with Mr Kearney’s journalistic data. This prompted Mr Kearney and the BBC to file human rights claims with the Tribunal on 17 May 2024.
The Tribunal ruled that several authorisations for accessing Mr Kearney’s data failed to adhere to the legal tests required for processing journalists’ communications data and source material. Consequently, these interferences were deemed “not in accordance with the law.” Additionally, the Tribunal held that none of the authorisations were justified or proportionate. As a result, the Tribunal ordered MI5 and the PSNI to pay Mr Kearney £10,000 each in damages. The ruling is understood to be the first one in which the British security services have been ordered to pay damages to a journalist.
However, the Tribunal did not uphold claims made by Mr Kearney or the BBC against other public bodies, including GCHQ, the Northern Ireland Office, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, and the Secretary of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Similarly, no determination was made in favour of Christopher Moore, a BBC journalist whose complaint was heard alongside that of Mr Kearney and the BBC.
Judgment can be viewed here.
Press coverage can be viewed here.
Further information
For more information from the stone team, contact clerks@36stone.co.uk
Involving Rachel Toney
