‘A Commons debate on the delayed Iraq War Inquiry will attempt to pressure Downing Street into fast-tracking its publication before the general election in May. David Davis, the former shadow home secretary, led a group of cross-party MPs in winning time for the debate which will be held on January 29.’
The Independent, 13th January 2015
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The long-awaited Chilcot report on the 2003 invasion of Iraq is being held up by rows over criticisms of leading figures in the Blair government and will almost certainly not be published until after the general election, the Guardian has learned. That scenario emerged on Tuesday after former Conservative foreign secretary Lord Hurd described the way the inquiry had dragged on went beyond questions of mere negligence and forgiveable delay. “It is becoming a scandal”, he told peers. He added: “This is not something of trivial importance. It is something of which a large number of people in this country look anxiously for truth.” ‘
The Guardian, 6th January 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘The House of Lords votes this week on a government proposal to increase the sentence for internet trolling to two years. We ask Baroness Deech QC – herself a victim of trolling – what she thinks of the idea.’
BBC Law in Action, 21st October 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The news last week was that the Foreign Secretary has proposed a revival of a fourteenth century statute in order to prosecute British jihadists who travel to Iraq or Syria to fight. Cries of foul are coming from the usual quarters, and there’s even a protest that the Strasbourg Court would object, which, given the current controversy surrounding that tribunal, may be a good reason in itself for such a move.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 21st October 2014
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘Following plans announced at the Conservative Party’s recent conference to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, Harriet Johnson reminds us why we signed it in the first place, and underlines why it remains such an important safeguard over half a century later.’
Doughty Street Chambers, 3rd October 2014
Source: www.doughtystreet.co.uk
Regina (Hussein) v Secretary of State for Defence [2014] EWCA Civ 1087; [2014] WLR (D) 361
‘The policy of the Secretary of State for Defence permitting a technique involving the use of shouting by the armed forces when questioning captured persons was compatible with international law and did not inherently give rise to an unacceptable risk of breaching international law, in particular the prohibitions on inhumane treatment, threats, insults, or unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment under the Geneva Conventions.’
WLR Daily, 31st July 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘The government must enshrine in law its commitment to consult the House of Commons before using its war-making powers, MPs have reiterated.’
BBC News, 27th March 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Diakité v Commissaire général aux réfugiés et aux apatrides (Case C-285/12); [2014] WLR (D) 37
‘An internal “armed conflict” existed, for the purposes of article 15(c) of Council Directive 2004/83/EC, if a state’s armed forces confronted one or more armed groups or if two or more armed groups confronted each other. It was not necessary for that conflict to be categorised as “armed conflict” not of an international character under international humanitarian law; nor was it necessary to carry out, in addition to an appraisal of the level of violence present in the territory concerned, a separate assessment of the intensity of the armed confrontations, the level of organisation of the armed forces involved or the duration of the conflict.’
WLR Daily, 30th January 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
“In early November 2013, Marine A (as he is known) was convicted by a court martial of murdering a badly wounded Taliban insurgent by shooting him in the chest.”
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 20th November 2013
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
“In this week’s programme Law in Action charts the history of laws forbidding the use of chemical weapons, and reveals how they first emerged in India over 2000 years ago. Today, with Syria now signing up to the chemical weapons convention, could we be on the brink of abolishing chemical weapons for good?”
BBC Law in Action, 22nd October 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Does the recent vote in the House of Commons on military action against Syria have real constitutional significance? Is it the final piece of evidence that there is a constitutional convention that the consent of the House of Commons must be sought before armed force is used? If so, should anything be done to concretise and clarify this Convention? And what is the broader constitutional significance of this episode in terms of the evolution of controls over the prerogative power and its significance for the evolving separation of powers in the UK?”
UK Constitutional Law Group, 19th September 2013
Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org
“If you think there are clear rules governing the UK’s use of armed force, you would be wrong.”
The Guardian, 24th July 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Death of WMD dossier scientist contributed to erosion of trust in politics.”
The Guardian, 16th July 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Two Afghan detainees captured by British forces have dropped legal challenges to their detention and can now be transferred to the Afghan authorities, the High Court has heard.”
BBC News, 27th June 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Smith and Others (Appellants) v The Ministry of Defence (Respondent) and other appeals. So, the Supreme Court has refused to allow these claims to be struck out on the principle of combat immunity. It has also asserted that jurisdiction for the purpose of an Article 2 right to life claim can extend to non-Convention countries, and that the state can owe a positive duty to protect life, even in a situation of armed combat.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 20th June 2013
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
“The inquiry into how Tony Blair committed Britain to war in Iraq is set to challenge the official version of events when it reports later this year, The Independent understands. The team led by Sir John Chilcot, which is examining Britain’s part in the US-led invasion, will ‘challenge previous accounts of what happened’, according to senior sources in the inquiry.”
The Independent, 6th March 2013
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“Trials at the ICTY concerned political violence and criminality that resulted from disintegration of a federation from which seven new successors states were formed. That process has been defined as a ‘clash of state projects’, where violence happened in areas claimed by two or more parties, or an aspiring state. The war crimes trials at the ICTY that resulted from overlapping territorial claims in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo produced a huge record of trial evidence. Problems in the very small state of Kosovo may be seen as the beginning of the violent process of disintegration, now known loosely as the Balkan wars of the 1990s. The conflict in Kosovo of 1998-9 may be seen as the end of those wars. Kosovo now seeks global recognition as an independent state but faces opposition both as to its international legal entitlements and as to how its history in the conflict should be viewed.”
Lecture by Professor Sir Geoffrey Nice QC
Gresham College, 13th February 2013
Source: www.gresham.ac.uk
“Ken Clarke has blamed Tony Blair’s ‘disastrous war on terror’ for the need to introduce secret courts to protect sensitive intelligence material.”
The Guardian, 19th September 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Related link: The justice and security bill is on the right track
“The decision to keep Iraq war cabinet minutes secret is ‘disappointing’, the UK information commissioner has said.”
BBC News, 1st August 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Fierce opposition in Whitehall to the disclosure of key documents relating to the invasion of Iraq, notably records of discussions between Tony Blair and George Bush, has meant the Chilcot inquiry will not now be able to publish its report for well over a year.”
The Guardian, 16th July 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
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