26.— (1) Where—

(a) for the purpose of a criminal investigation the Minister has given an authorisation of an interception under section 2 of the Act of 1993,

(b) the telecommunications address of the person specified in the authorisation is being used on the territory of a member state, and

(c) technical assistance from the member state is not required to carry out the interception,

the Minister shall inform the competent authority in the member state of the authorisation—

(i) before the interception, if the Minister is then aware that the person is present on that territory, or

(ii) in any other case, immediately after the Minister becomes so aware.

(2) The notification shall include the following information:

(a) confirmation that authorisation of an interception has been given by warrant under section 2 of the Act of 1993 in connection with a criminal investigation;

(b) details sufficient to identify the subject of the interception;

(c) an indication of the criminal conduct under investigation; and

(d) the expected duration of the interception.

(3) The Minister shall comply with any condition, requirement or request imposed or made by the competent authority in relation to the interception pursuant to Article 20.4 of the 2000 Convention.

(4) Pending a decision by the competent authority on whether to consent to the interception or to its continuance—

(a) any interception made may be continued, but

(b) material intercepted may not be used unless—

(i) otherwise agreed between the Minister and the competent authority, or

(ii) in connection with taking urgent measures to prevent an immediate and serious threat to public security (including measures in respect of any serious offence), in which case the Minister shall inform the competent authority of any such use and the reasons justifying it.

(5) In subsection (4)(b)(ii), “serious offence” means an offence specified in the Schedule to the Bail Act 1997 for which a person of full capacity and not previously convicted may be punished by a term of imprisonment for a term of 5 years or by a more severe penalty.

(6) If so requested by the competent authority, the Minister shall supply it with a summary of the facts of the case and any further information necessary to enable it to decide whether an interception would be authorised by it in similar circumstances.

(7) Subsection (6) is without prejudice to subsection (4), unless otherwise agreed between the Minister and the competent authority.

(8) Where the Minister is of opinion that the information to be provided under subsection (2) is of a particularly sensitive nature, the information may, with the agreement of the competent authority concerned, be transmitted to it through a specific person or body.

(9) This section does not apply in relation to a member state which has declared in accordance with the 2000 Convention that it is not necessary to provide it with information on interceptions as envisaged in Article 20 of that Convention.