The mandate of the Communications Security Establishment Commissioner is threefold:
to review the activities of the Communications Security Establishment (CSE)* for compliance with the law and to advise the Minister of National Defence and the Attorney General of Canada of any CSE activity that the Commissioner believes may not be in compliance with the law;
to receive complaints about the lawfulness of CSE activities; and
carrying out specific duties under the 'public interest defence' provisions of the Security of Information Act.
The Commissioner's mandate is set out in Part V.1 of the National Defence Act and in section 15 of the Security of Information Act.
* CSE, an agency of the Department of National Defence, performs three key functions: (1) it acquires and uses information from the global information infrastructure for the purpose of providing foreign intelligence, in accordance with Government of Canada intelligence priorities; (2) it provides advice, guidance and services to help ensure the protection of electronic information and of information infrastructures of importance to the Government of Canada; and (3) it provides technical and operational assistance to federal law enforcement and security agencies in the performance of their lawful duties. (National Defence Act, Part V.1, section 273.64 (1).)