Rights groups welcomed a proposed new British law that will create a legal basis for undercover informants to break the law when needed in the fight against serious crimes, but said that it doesn’t go far enough in specifying which crimes could be authorized.
The Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) Bill, which had its first reading in the House of Commons on Sept. 24, would explicitly allow informants recruited by MI5, the police, and other government departments to engage in criminality to secure the trust of those they are investigating, the government said in a statement.
