Law and the killing of Reyaad Khan

This afternoon in the House of Commons the Prime Minister told MPs that Reyaad Khan, the “Islamic State” fighter from Cardiff, was killed in Syria in a targeted RAF drone strike. His death was reported some days ago but it was not clear till now that it the RAF had targeted him. The case raises […]

Abu Qatada: a victory for pragmatism and the rule of law

Photo: Home Office Only a matter of weeks ago, politicians were seriously discussing the possibility that the UK might need to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights in order to be rid of Abu Qatada. Yet this weekend we saw him board a plane to Jordan – and no human rights treaties were […]

Danny Nightingale’s solicitor on Dominic Grieve

Since my last post on Danny Nightingale I’ve been in touch with his solicitor, Simon McKay. I asked him what he thought about the Attorney’s response to Philip Hammond, and he replied: My view is that the AG has the ability to review the case at any stage since he has supervisory jurisdiction over the SPA […]

Danny Nightingale: the Attorney’s right, Hammond was wrong

The Attorney General Dominic Grieve has been criticised for refusing to intervene in the case of Danny Nightingale, a soldier who pleaded guilty at a Court Martial recently to illegal possession of a gun and ammunition. Apparently Danny Nightingale’s solicitor intends to appeal, presumably against the sentence of 18 months detention. Grieve refused to intervene […]

Craig Murray’s Newsnight outburst: the law on anonymity should be tightened

Last night on the BBC’s Newsnight, Craig Murray, the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, named one of the women whose evidence has led Swedish prosecutors to seek the extradition of Julian Assange. I agree with those who think this was a shocking thing for him to do. It shows no regard for the rights of […]

Attorney General “considers concerns” over Akers’ evidence to Leveson

When I saw Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers give evidence to the Leveson inquiry last week, I did wonder for half a moment whether it could be sensible or right for her apparently to make statements about what had happened at the Sun as though it were fact – when people had reportedly been arrested […]

Grieve: Contempt of Court Act “fit for purpose”

This evening the Attorney General Dominic Grieve has been speaking at City University on the subject “Contempt – a balancing act”. Here’s the draft text of his speech – it differed only slightly in delivery. In the document viewer below you’ll find my note of the most important additions and changed he made, and some […]

Hemming does his worst

As I think readers will surely know by now, John Hemming MP used Parliamentary privilege today to name the footballer whose anonymity is protected in this privacy case by an injunction, which the High Court decided earlier today to maintain in force. Since then, first Sky News and now the BBC have named the footballer […]

Government note on the legal basis for deployment in Libya

The government has today published a note (hat tip to Paul Waugh) setting out a summary of the legal basis of the government’s deployment in Libya. Actually it does no more than explain that UN Resolution 1973 authorises member states to take all necessary measures to enforce a no-fly zone and to protect civilians in […]

Nick Clegg misses a legal trick

At the end of my interview the other day with Charon QC, I spoke briefly about the appointments of the Law Officers – the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve and the Solicitor General, Edward Garnier – and suggested Nick Clegg had missed a trick by not insisting on a Liberal Democrat in one of these posts. […]