Reports

The Independent Reviewer produces annual reports on different aspects of the operation of terrorism legislation in the United Kingdom.

These reports are laid before Parliament by the Home Secretary or HM Treasury.

Most of the Independent Reviewer’s reports are intended to inform the public and political debate on the use of anti-terrorism legislation in the UK. From time to time, I have been asked to produce reports on other subjects: for example, the law on investigatory powers and citizenship deprivation. Advance notice of forthcoming publications is not always given by Government departments: I try to warn of future publication on twitter (@terrorwatchdog).

Bulk Powers Review – Report (August 2016)

The report of my Bulk Powers Review, which I delivered to the Prime Minister on 7 August, was published to Parliament (in unaltered form, and without redactions or confidential annex) at 11 am today.

Web and print versions of the report are on the gov.uk website, and a PDF copy of the report is here: Bulk Powers Review – final report.  It begins with a 1-page Executive Summary.   The document speaks for itself, and I will not be doing any media around the launch.

I would emphasise the following points: Read more…

Citizenship removal leading to statelessness (April 2016)

The Immigration Act 2014 revived the Home Secretary’s power to remove citizenship from UK nationals, even when they have no other citizenship.  Such a power existed prior to 2003, though it had not been used since 1973.

So controversial was this power (which in its application to single nationals exceeds powers recently introduced or debated in Australia, Canada and France) that Parliament insisted on provision being made for the independent review of its operation.  The Immigration Minister, James Brokenshire MP, asked me to conduct the first review.

The first report on the new power was laid before Parliament on 21 April.  The power has not so far been used, so strictly speaking there was nothing to report on.  But I took the opportunity in my report to explain the historical and comparative background to the power, and to set out some reasons for scepticism as to its utility in the global fight against terrorism.

The Terrorism Acts in 2014 (September 2015)

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.  The Government’s response to the report, published on 8 November 2016, is here: I posted on it here. Read more…

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 submitted to the Review in writing.  The Report is also  available free of charge from the following sites: