Japan LDP Proposes Warrantless Communications Interception and External Intelligence Agency as Part of Anti-Espionage Law Push

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Headquarters for Intelligence Strategy, chaired by Policy Research Council chief Takayuki Kobayashi, plans to submit a second proposal to the government allowing administrative agencies to intercept private communications without a court warrant for security purposes, a departure from the "judicial interception" permitted under the 2000 wiretapping law solely for criminal investigations, according to the Japan Times and Jiji Press 12. The proposal, discussed at an LDP executive meeting on Thursday and expected to be finalized as early as next week for submission to a government expert panel on intelligence capabilities launching this summer, also calls on the government to draft legislation establishing an "external intelligence agency" and to pursue a foreign interference prevention law and a foreign agent registration law modeled on US and UK approaches 1. The LDP frames the package, a central pillar of anti-espionage legislation Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's administration aims to enact early, around three elements: countering foreign interference, expanding information-gathering capacity, and adding parliamentary and independent oversight of intelligence agencies 1. Opposition lawmaker Hiroyuki Konishi criticized the warrantless interception plan, according to J-CAST News, saying it risks a return to prewar-style surveillance 3.