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 […]

Pannick on Mr Justice Peter Smith

Today’s Times has a piece by Lord Pannick QC (behind the Times paywall) on the extraordinary behaviour of Mr Justice Peter Smith in a case involving British Airways earlier this summer. The case, he says, raises serious issues about judicial conduct which need urgent consideration by the Lord Chief Justice. The case was reported on […]

S and Marper v UK

The European Court of Human Rights has today ruled against the UK in this important case about retention of DNA samples and profiles as well as fingerprints. S had been charged with attempted burglary when 11 in 2001; he was acquitted, but his DNA was retained under section 64 of PACE. Marper was charged with […]

Lord Pannick’s maiden speech

David Pannick QC was made a Lord not long ago; and now he’s made his maiden speech, about the relationship between ministers and the judiciary, essentially. I’m glad he agrees with me about Paul Dacre, and I agree with his suggestion that it’s paradoxical, in a time when we seem to be more concerned than […]