Parliamentary oversight of intelligence agencies: Lessons from westminster

Abstract

While oversight of intelligence agencies can take a number of forms, legislative oversight is often seen as particularly important as it can help ensure agencies' independence from the executive, maintain public confidence and provide legitimacy for the agencies and their actions. This chapter draws on research on oversight of the intelligence and security agencies by the United Kingdom Parliament to consider possible lessons for legislative oversight in emerging states, and in particular, a potentially independent Scotland. It suggests that the challenges associated with such a development have been largely overlooked, and that careful consideration would need to be given to a number of issues, including the capacity and expertise required for intelligence oversight, in addition to the powers of any oversight body and indeed of Parliament as a whole.