Brexit: the security dimension

My article about Brexit and Security ("Terrorism: the EU picture") has just been published in Counsel Magazine.  In summary: The leadership role in the EU exercised by the UK in matters relating to security (in particular counter-terrorism) will inevitably be lost after Brexit. There are reasons to hope that broadly satisfactory arrangements can be made for [...]

By |2018-07-11T09:05:03+00:00April 25th, 2017|Blog, Europe, KEEPING, Law, Security|Comments Off on Brexit: the security dimension

CJEU judgment in Watson/Tele2

This post, composed immediately after judgment was handed down in this important case on 21 December 2016, encapsulates my reaction to it.   Its possible implications for the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, for the other “bulk powers” used by UK intelligence agencies and others, for the developing case law of the European Court of Human Rights and [...]

By |2017-07-26T11:16:50+00:00April 11th, 2017|Blog, KEEPING, Security|Comments Off on CJEU judgment in Watson/Tele2

The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 – an exercise in democracy

The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 became law on 29 November, when it received Royal Assent.  It is currently being brought into force in stages. This post, originally composed on 3 December 2016, is my big-picture reaction to the Act, which was influenced by my reports A Question of Trust (June 2015) and Report of Bulk Powers Review (August [...]

By |2017-06-26T20:48:39+00:00December 3rd, 2016|Blog, KEEPING, Security|Comments Off on The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 – an exercise in democracy

Terrorism, Tolerance and Human Rights

I spoke in October 2016 to the Legal Affairs and Political Affairs Committees of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, as part of its #nohatenofear campaign.  It was an honour to share the platform with the French journalist Antoine Leiris and the Italian teacher Luciana Milani, both of whom lost close relatives in the Bataclan attack in Paris last [...]

By |2017-06-07T11:42:56+00:00October 12th, 2016|KEEPING|Comments Off on Terrorism, Tolerance and Human Rights

Work of the Independent Reviewer

Lord Carlile, David Anderson, Max Hill On 1 March 2016, BBC2's Daily Politics screened a 5-minute film about my work, made on location in London and Bolton, and an unusually long and varied interview (clips still available). The film, which also features my predecessor Lord Carlile QC, is a good introduction to the work [...]

By |2018-05-10T14:15:09+00:00March 1st, 2016|Blog, KEEPING, Media, Security|Comments Off on Work of the Independent Reviewer

A Question of Trust – Report of the Investigatory Powers Review (June 2015)

Introduction “A Question of Trust”, the report of my Investigatory Powers Review under DRIPA 2014 s7, was laid before Parliament today.  It can be accessed below in print and web accessible versions, together with the accompanying press release and (so far as the authors were willing for it to be published) the evidence [...]

By |2017-06-26T21:19:18+00:00June 11th, 2015|Blog, KEEPING, Security|Comments Off on A Question of Trust – Report of the Investigatory Powers Review (June 2015)

Shielding the Compass: How to Fight Terrorism without Defeating the Law

Terrorism was commonplace prior to 9/11: yet the years since then have seen an unprecedented growth in anti-terrorism law. This paper suggests that some of the conventional justifications for terrorism-specific laws are overblown, and that such laws need to be justified by the particular demands of policing and prosecuting this type of crime.  An appropriate definition of terrorism, together with a culture of [...]

By |2020-02-24T10:27:52+00:00April 19th, 2013|Blog, KEEPING, Security|Comments Off on Shielding the Compass: How to Fight Terrorism without Defeating the Law
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