Miranda: the Court of Appeal’s interpretation of “terrorism”

I’ve already criticised what I think is a fundamental contradiction undermining the Court of Appeal’s judgment in the Miranda case. But there’s another aspect of the judgment that I must mention, which may well be of more lasting importance. The power used to stop and question David Miranda is conferred by paragraph 2(1) of Schedule […]

The self-contradictory Miranda appeal ruling

I’ve been following for some time David Miranda’s challenge to the lawfulness of his questioning at Heathrow airport in 2013. I wrote shortly after his detention; I covered his application for an injunction; I published his grounds for judicial review; I live-tweeted the judicial review hearing and analysed Lord Justice Laws’s judgment against Miranda; and […]

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 […]

The PM’s “foreign fighters” plan: probably lawful

Overnight in Australia, the Prime Minister announced new counter-terrorism powers which he intends to introduce in a bill in the next few weeks. He said there’d be New powers for police at ports to seize passports, to stop suspects travelling and to stop British nationals returning to the UK unless they do so on our […]

Grieve: Counter-terrorism measures “probably getting to the right place”

The former Attorney General Dominic Grieve appeared on Radio 4’s World at One Today to discuss the government’s new plan to “regulate” the return to the UK of those who, for instance, have gone to Syria to fight for the “Islamic State”. Grieve said his impression was that the new proposals – announced by the […]

R (Miranda) v Home Secretary: witness statement of Detective Supt. Caroline Goode

A few weeks ago I published the witness statement of Oliver Robbins served on behalf of the Home Secretary in the Miranda case. That statement referred (at para. 32) to a further statement to be served by the police, also in opposition to David Miranda’s application for an injunction. Now I can also publish that […]

Miranda v Home Secretary: today’s hearing and order

Today’s hearing at the High Court before Lord Justice Beatson and Mr Justice Kenneth Parker was interesting, and not just because of the order they made. But let me turn to that order first. The court has ordered that until a further hearing next Friday, August 30th, the government and the police may not inspect, […]

Did the Guardian comply with an “official direction” under the Official Secrets Act?

Alan Rusbridger revealed in a piece first published on the Guardian website at half past ten on Monday evening how GCHQ security experts supervised the destruction of hard drives containing “Snowden material” in a basement at the Guardian’s offices. This is how he explained what happened: A little over two months ago I was contacted […]

Could David Miranda be a “terrorist”?

There’s understandably been a great deal of reaction to the nine-hour detention at Heathrow airport of David Miranda, who was travelling as part of his work with Guardian journalists covering Edward Snowden’s disclosures, and whose laptop and memory stick were seized as a result of his detention and questioning under paragraphs 2 and 6 of […]

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 […]