Pannick on the Reyaad Khan drone strike

In the Times today Lord Pannick QC discusses the recently announced RAF drone strike that killed Reyaad Khan and another British “Islamic State” fighter. He agrees with me that article 51 of the UN Charter permits defence against an imminent attack from a non-state organisation. A state, he writes does not have to wait for […]

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 […]

R (Smith) v Defence Secretary: a judicial frolic

Since last week’s judgment in Smith – in which the Court of Appeal ruled that the Human Rights Act, in particular article 2, applies to British troops even on the battlefield, I’ve been thinking about the judgment (one reason why I’ve not blogged for several days) and I’m troubled by it. The Court’s conclusion – […]

Tabernacle v Defence Secretary

Yesterday the Court of Appeal gave judgment in this case about the right to freedom of expression – specifically to protest at the Aldermaston atomic weapons establishment. The protest in question is the Aldermaston Women’s Peace Camp; and the human rights issue arises because in 2007 the Defence Secretary made byelaws under section 14 of […]