Is it a criminal offence to watch a video?
The Metropolitan Police put out an alarmist statement this week that, in certain circumstances, merely viewing a video could constitute a criminal offence under terrorist legislation. This is, of...
View ArticleThe Ministry of Justice and the Saudis: the unanswered questions
22nd January 2015 #UK & #Saudi Ministers of Justice – Rt Hon Chris Grayling & Dr al Issa – sign mou on judicial #cooperation pic.twitter.com/JXqES7D8AI — UKinSaudiArabia (@UKinSaudiArabia)...
View ArticleA conflict of interest: the Saudi state and the UK’s Ministry of Justice
25th January 2015 #UK & #Saudi Ministers of Justice – Rt Hon Chris Grayling & Dr al Issa – sign mou on judicial #cooperation pic.twitter.com/JXqES7D8AI — UKinSaudiArabia (@UKinSaudiArabia)...
View ArticleThe Ministry of Justice and the Saudis: ten more unanswered questions
27th January 2015 #UK & #Saudi Ministers of Justice – Rt Hon Chris Grayling & Dr al Issa – sign mou on judicial #cooperation pic.twitter.com/JXqES7D8AI — UKinSaudiArabia (@UKinSaudiArabia)...
View ArticleJust Solutions international: a timeline
10 February 2015 Last updated: 10 February 2015 This timeline sets out and links to the public domain information about the shadowy and curious “Just Solutions international” (“JSi” – complete with...
View ArticleMoJ refuses to disclose details of its commercial proposal to the Saudi state
The below has been received from the Ministry of Justice. It is a refusal to disclose anything to do with the MoJ’s proposal to provide services on a commercial basis to the Saudi state. Freedom of...
View ArticleThe story of the unfortunate MoJ and Saudi commercial proposal
25th September 2015 This is the background story to my ongoing posts at the FT about the unfortunate contract proposal from the UK government to the government of Saudi Arabia, and what the deal tells...
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Michael Gove “picks a fight” over the MoJ’s Saudi contract bid: the background
13th October 2015 The overnight news was dramatic: the Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, Michael Gove, has “picked a fight” in Cabinet. And the subject of this political spat? It would appear that...
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The thinly veiled threats of the Saudi Ambassador
27th October 2015 When a genuinely extraordinary political decision is taken the consequences can often be telling. Such decisions are not those usual ones that are predetermined or stage-managed, as...
View ArticleThe new Investigatory Powers Bill and the politics of ‘nodding along’
2nd November 2015 Today I have done a quick post at the FT on the Home Office’s PR exercise this week on the new Investigatory Powers Bill. _____________________________________ To get alerts for my...
View ArticleThe “Carlile Doctrine”
15th November 2015 Lord Carlile has used the atrocities two days ago in Paris as the basis for calling for proposed new UK surveillance laws to be “expedited”. Lord Carlile wants communications data...
View ArticleTwo questions about “something must be done” following the Paris attacks
17th November 2015 In the aftermath of the Paris atrocities there are demands for action: dropping bombs and air-strikes, shoot-to-kill policies, more use of special interrogation techniques (ie,...
View ArticleGeorge Osborne’s National Spider Plan
17th November 2015 @DavidAllenGreen cyber plan, cyber plan plans whatever a cyber can… — Jennie Rigg (@miss_s_b) November 17, 2015 And so inspired by Jennie Rigg’s brilliant tweet, here are extracts...
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FT post on Home Office, Saudi Arabia and the need for a ‘safe space’
13th January 2016 My latest FT post is now up, on the the Home Office using the jargon of “safe spaces” so as to avoid disclosing the nature of its relationship with the Saudi internal ministry. And...
View ArticleHow Michael Gove won the cabinet row about the Saudi prison contract
31st January 2016 On the morning of Tuesday 13 October 2015 the UK Prime Minister David Cameron had a serious political problem – a problem which seemed to many political observers to have almost come...
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Law and policy round-up: Do Ministers know best?
10th February 2016 This is today’s law and policy round-up. * Ministers really do know best, it would seem. A couple of days ago the Attorney-General – whose office is still narked at losing the Evans...
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The push-me-pull-yous of public policy: surveillance and freedom of information
1st March 2016 * “If you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear.” Adage, attributable to someone or other. * Surveillance and freedom of information are the push-me-pull-yous of public...
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“Privacy is Surveillance”– Part 1 of the Investigatory Powers Bill
2nd March 2016 Yesterday the government put the Investigatory Powers Bill before parliament. (Note it is not a “draft” Bill – that was the last one. This is now the Bill (which is, in turn, a draft...
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FT post on the Panama Papers: public interest disclosure v the right to...
6th April 2016 I have posted over at FT.com on the Panama Papers and whether their disclosure raises concerns about the right to private legal professional advice. The post is here. Here are a couple...
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Lauri Love and the potential civil law “backdoor” for obtaining encryption keys
10th May 2016 This is an “explainer” post about a potentially significant court decision being handed down today on whether the UK State can use civil law as a legal “backdoor” for obtaining encryption...
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