Welcome! I am an independent Q.C. and not part of the government machine. I am tasked with reviewing the operation of the United Kingdom’s anti-terrorism laws. Where I am critical, I recommend change. My reports and recommendations are submitted to ministers and laid before Parliament.
As reviewer I have a very high degree of access both to classified documents and to those most closely involved with defence against terrorism: Read more…
Two bits of news about my own office, whose functioning is described here and depicted in this short film.
First, the additional assistance promised to the Independent Reviewer last year (in lieu of the ill-fated Privacy and Civil Liberties Board, which after various twists and turns the present Government decided not to establish) has materialised in the form of three special advisers.
Each has agreed to work with me on specific tasks related to my functions, as they may arise during the year. The necessary security clearances are being obtained, and an additional budget of up to £50,000 has been allocated to my office for this purpose.
They are:
I was given a free hand over the selection of all three, and all have agreed to serve for (at least) the remainder of my term as Independent Reviewer. It will be an honour for me to work with such admirably qualified individuals. They should help increase the range and depth of the work that the Independent Reviewer is able to do in the future.
Secondly, I have notified the Home Secretary that I do not intend to ask for a third three-year term as Independent Reviewer after the expiry of my current term in February 2017.
I have found the job immensely rewarding. But I will soon have submitted some 20 reports over six years, not to mention 5,000 tweets, and expressed my opinions on the terrorism laws (and allied subjects) countless times to parliamentary committees and to media.  I believe that from early next year (by which time I aim to have published four further reports), the value I can bring to the role will begin to decline, and that it will be time for a new incumbent with a new set of skills.
The post will be advertised in a month or two (including via @terrorwatchdog). Selection will be according to the public appointments procedure, and an appointment will be made if possible in the early autumn.
It would be good to have a really strong list of applicants – not limited to the white males who have done the job since the 1970s. If you have the necessary qualities, please think about applying!
A House of Commons Public Bill Committee has been set up in order to give detailed scrutiny to the Investigatory Powers Bill that was unveiled on 1 March 2016 and given its second reading on 15 March. A good deal of written evidence to that committee was published last week.
I was the first witness to be examined by the Public Bill Committee, on 24 March 2016.  A transcript of my 25-minute evidence has been published on the Committee’s website, and most of it is captured on video.
Later on 24 March, I submitted written evidence to the Public Bill Committee in order to expand upon some of the points touched on in my oral evidence and to raise some new points. That written evidence is published here for the first time. Read more…
I lectured for 30 minutes last night at King’s College London on the Investigatory Powers Bill that was introduced to Parliament last week and faces its second reading in the House of Commons next Tuesday. Read more…
My annual report on the operation of the Terrorism Acts 2000 and 2006 was laid before Parliament by the Home Secretary on the morning of Thursday 17 September. You can download it here:
Terrorism Acts Report 2015 Print version
Terrorism Acts Report 2015_web version
The report is also available on the gov.uk site. Read more…
A House of Commons Public Bill Committee has been set up in order to give detailed scrutiny to the Investigatory Powers Bill that was unveiled on 1 March 2016 and given its second reading on 15 March. A good deal of written evidence to that committee was published last week.
I was the first witness to be examined by the Public Bill Committee, on 24 March 2016.  A transcript of my 25-minute evidence has been published on the Committee’s website, and most of it is captured on video.
Later on 24 March, I submitted written evidence to the Public Bill Committee in order to expand upon some of the points touched on in my oral evidence and to raise some new points. That written evidence is published here for the first time. Read more…
This brief contribution to the Brexit debate, founded on my own observations in Brussels and in UK ports, was published in Prospect on 3 March 2016.
If the website claims you have reached your monthly limit, which it seems very ready to do, you may have to feed it your email address.
UPDATE 31 March 2016:
Some of the same ground was covered in a 7-minute interview (with Richard Walton, from 19 minutes) by Eddie Mair on BBC Radio 4’s PM programme on 23 March.
I gave an interview at about the same time to the International Bar Association on security, Europe and human rights, which they have made available as a podcast.
Drawing on 30 years’ experience of EU law, IÂ gave a much wider-ranging account of the Brexit debate to an international audience in early July 2015, at the European University Institute in Florence.