Tribunal reveals MI5 agents are allowed to commit crimes

A tribunal has revealed that agents connected to MI5 are legally permitted to commit crimes that could include torture and murder, meaning James Bond's fictional 'licence to kill' may not be too far off the mark after all.

Four human rights organisations are currently taking legal action against the government over the policy known as 'the third direction', which permits agents to become involved in criminal conduct.

As a result, the investigatory powers tribunal - which hears complaints about surveillance and the intelligence agencies - learnt agents may be free to engage in some criminal conduct without repercussions.

Responding to the legal challenge, the government's representative Sir James Eadie QC insisted the security service does not have total immunity from criminal liability and is governed by Participation in Criminality forms to ensure laws are not broken.

However, he added: "Given the covert nature of CHIS [covert human intelligence source] and given the types of person with whom and entities with which they have relationships, they need to behave in certain ways and participate in certain activities."

Lord Evans of Weardale, who was MI5 director-general until 2013, recently told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that legal challenges against security services risks exposing informants and could put spies in danger.