USA: Domestic surveillance programme to be overseen by FISA Court

On 17 January, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that the administration would, from now on, submit all domestic surveillance requests to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) for review and approval, in accordance with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). This move follows a District Court ruling in August 2006 finding that the warrantless surveillance program run by the National Security Agency was unconstitutional. On 26 January, the DOJ filed a motion to withdraw its appeal against the August decision, arguing that the lawsuit was moot.

DoJ Letter DoJ Briefing Transcript FISA Government Motion