On Just Intelligence Operations: Exceptions and Explanations

This chapter situates approaches to intelligence ethics that draw from and refer to the just war tradition (JWT). The JWT has a long rich history to draw from. Furthermore, both intelligence and warfare necessarily involve the transgression of regular moral norms. In normal life, spying on someone, exploiting their weaknesses, and coercing them into a particular set of behaviours would be morally impermissible. However, in intelligence, these transgressions are not only permitted they may also be required and celebrated. Moreover, intelligence requires these practices to be developed, determined, and directed by intelligence institutions. So, much like the ethics of war, in which justified institutional decisions around the resort to warfare are tied to six particular criteria, we present a case for six principles of jus ad intelligentium (i.e. the decision to direct the gathering of intelligence in a particular setting): just cause for intelligence (JCI) right intention for intelligence (RII) legitimate authority for intelligence (LAI) logical resort for intelligence intelligence that is fit for purpose, and proportionality for intelligence. Importantly, I show how these six jus ad intelligentium principles differ from the six jus ad bellum criteria. Furthermore, I use the institutional frame to how and why these principles differ from other suggested JIT approaches.