Judgment Approved by the court for handing down. Davis & Ors v SSHD was already known to be linked to serious crime.’ This is because investigation is often needed of lower level individuals whose activities are not themselves considered to have been serious. 95. In some circumstances a wholly innocent person’s data might be accessed in order to assist in the detection of serious crime by others. The need for access to data is not limited to data directly attributable to particular individuals suspected of having committed serious crimes. It can be needed in relation to serious crime committed by anyone. The status of the individual in respect of whom access is sought cannot determine whether such access should be permitted, although it may of course be material in considering whether such access is indeed necessary. 96. As to the definition of serious crimes, the CJEU makes it clear that this is a matter for national legislatures, so long as the relevant offences are precisely defined and can properly be regarded as serious. Parliament has not found it difficult in previous criminal justice legislation to draw up schedules of offences considered serious for various purposes and it is unlikely to be difficult to so again in the present context. 97. Turning to the question of the need for judicial or independent review, Mr Eadie drew our attention to reservations expressed by Sir Anthony May, the Interception of Communications Commissioner (ICC). These resulted from consideration of how the requirement of judicial approvals for local authority communications data requests imposed by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 was working. Sir Anthony and his predecessor Sir Paul Kennedy had consistently been of the view that the requirement for judicial approval would not be likely to lead to improved standards or ‘have any impact other than to introduce unnecessary bureaucracy into the process and increase the costs associated with acquiring the data’. But their criticisms were essentially of lack of training of magistrates, instances of a failure by magistrates to carry out proper scrutiny of applications, failure by the Ministry of Justice to introduce an electronic system to avoid delay and the requirements in some cases for payment of fees. 98. The provisions of RIPA, as applied by DRIPA, require (as we have noted above) that an application for access to communication data must be considered by a senior person who is independent of the investigation. There is already a need for there to be a written request for approval. The need for that approval to be by a judge or official wholly independent of the force or body making the application should not, provided the person responsible is properly trained or experienced, be particularly cumbersome. The views of Sir Anthony May and Sir Paul Kennedy are entitled to respect; but if EU law requires independent approval, as we are satisfied it does, that must be put in place. It is not for us to devise the appropriate system. As to the question of what level of consideration should be given to applications involving access to data involving communications with lawyers, Members of Parliament, or journalists, that too is not for us to determine. We only observe that such cases do require special consideration. 99. We add the important proviso that the requirement of prior approval relates to access, not to retention. We see no reason why the exercise of the power to retain should need prior independent approval, and we do not understand the CJEU to have held that it does. Retention in the EU