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David Anderson Profile picture
David Anderson
@bricksilk
Lord Anderson of Ipswich KBE KC: cross-bench peer, @HLConstitution; Chair of Inter Mediate, @UCL_EI, APPG Rule of Law; Vis Prof @KCL_Law; ex-@terrorwatchdog
Jun 30, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
My independent review of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 is published today. The Act generally works well, but my review examines some specific proposals for change. .gov.uk/government/pub… Govt announcement here gov.uk/government/new…
Jun 28, 2023 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
The rule of law is an undefined statutory concept. Lord Keen, who resigned over the “limited and specific” breach of international law in #IMA2021, and I sought clarity from our Law Officers in @HLConstitution https://t.co/aK3jpkk2ZL (0905:45-0920:15)./1Parliamentlive.tv
parliamentlive.tv/event/index/5b… There are well-established international definitions by the CoE Venice Commission and the EU (whose conditionality regulation of 2020 was the subject of a 25-judge ruling recently). So it would not be impossible to arrive at our own definition. /2
Dec 1, 2022 • 15 tweets • 5 min read
I've been looking at the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, added in its current form to the #NationalSecurityBill on the last day of its passage through the Commons. No html version available yet but it's Part 3 (ss 62-81) of the Bill: bills.parliament.uk/publications/4…. /1 I think I understand why the activities of specified persons (e.g. China, Russia, Iran and entities they control) need to be registered (cll 62-65). Hostile states need careful watching and hopefully this (and the penalties for non-compliance) will help. /2
Dec 1, 2022 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
The long-awaited Ouseley report into closed material proceedings has now been published. tl;dr - CMPs have enabled more cases to be tried, but special advocates need better resources.assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl… Most of the concerns expressed during the passage of the #JSA2013 are found not to have been realised in practice. But there are 20 practical recommendations for improvement of the system. /2
Jun 13, 2022 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
The #NIProtocolBill is here, together with the claimed legal “justification” which is the doctrine of necessity. Sounds thin to me, not to say threadbare. gov.uk/government/new… The Govt’s legal position is summarised here gov.uk/government/pub….
Apr 5, 2022 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Useful 🧵 on today’s #CJEU Dwyer judgment - a notorious murder in Ireland that was only solved because location data was routinely saved for 2 yrs in case police needed access in a criminal investigation. /1 This enabled the crime to be pinned on a previously unsuspected architect, whose professional movements over a long period corresponded with those of the incriminating phone. /2
Mar 21, 2022 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
Good news: Govt has agreed to reinstate my extensive amendments to clause 9 of #NABB (citizenship deprivation): publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill…. Those changes take the sting out of it, as I tried to explain here theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2022…. /1 Some would have preferred to remove clause 9 altogether - but given the national security reasons advanced for it (and the flat rejection of numerous other @UKHouseofLords amendments), that was never going to be accepted by the Govt or the elected House. /2
Jan 20, 2022 • 15 tweets • 7 min read
Some interesting (if incomplete) answers yesterday from @ukhomeoffice to my written questions on citizenship deprivation, which will be relevant to debates on #NBBill clause 9 members.parliament.uk/member/4705/wr…. Why was the power to deprive on “conducive to the public good” grounds exercised more than 100 times in 2017, far more than in any other year (though figures for 2019-2021 are not yet available)?
Jan 18, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Furore over HMG public order defeats should not distract from other important changes to #PCSCBill made by @UKHouseofLords last night: urgent review into spiking and injections,making misogyny an aggravating factor in sentencing many crimes (as a racial element already is) … /1 … imposing a statutory duty duty of candour on police, and scrapping the Vagrancy Act 1824 which makes it a crime to beg or sleep rough. /2
Dec 21, 2021 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
Just attended an online Covid briefing with Sir Patrick Vallance, Chris Whitty &c. Only MPs and peers - almost 450 of us. Questions were uniformly concise, courteous, pertinent, well-informed and non-political: better on each count than we usually hear at press conferences. /1 Lots of fair challenges, esp on messaging. How can omicron be "doubling daily" when figures look stable? Publish staff absence rates, given it's a crucial issue? Map vaxed/non-vaxed hospital cases against vaxed/non-vaxed numbers in each age cohort, to make the case for vax? /2
Nov 1, 2021 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
Flexible and fragile conventions no longer suffice to govern standards in UK public life. This thoughtful and decisive report by ⁦@PublicStandards⁩ charts the way forward and deserves maximum political support. /1 ImageImageImageImage This is not just an SW1 issue, but fundamental to public perceptions of (and thus, ultimately, continued acceptance of) our democratic way of life. /2
Sep 24, 2020 • 21 tweets • 8 min read
Here are my thoughts on the super-sensitive CHIS (Criminal Conduct) Bill #CHISBill, published today in time (just) for 2nd reading in @HouseofCommons on Monday assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…. /1 CHIS = covert human intelligence source legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/23/…: put simply, an agent who for whatever reason (personal, financial, even patriotic) agrees to help the police, MI5 or others spy on suspected criminals. They are authorised under #RIPA legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/23/… /2
Sep 17, 2020 • 20 tweets • 4 min read
Government changes to #IMBill were published overnight publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill…. This is their version of ⁦@neill_bob⁩’s amendment. /1 It may have solved their political problems, at least in the Commons, but does not solve their legal ones. /2
Sep 15, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
The fullest defence yet of #InternalMarketBill (contingent powers only; Brandon Lewis wrong) was given by Lord Keen at the start of today's @LordsEUCom Justice meeting. Video here, parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/e2… transcript in a few days. A court commitment stopped me attending, sadly. He took the same line as at today's PNQ hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2020-09-…, but had more time to set it out. In short #IMBill gives UK powers that may be needed to respond to a fundamental breach by EU of the WA or to exercise our rights under Art 16 of the NI Protocol or Art 62 VCLT.
Sep 10, 2020 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
Lord Keen has defended the Government's position, and his own. His main point was that the Government has not asserted the power to depart unilaterally from a recently-agreed Treaty, just invited Parliament to consider the matter. Over to us! /1 So would it be OK for Parliament to pass a law allowing specific international commitments, recently accepted and passed into law, to be simply disregarded? Lord Keen (wisely perhaps) did not address the moral/reputational aspects of this, but pointed to a "precedent". /2
Sep 8, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
The Ministerial Code still mandates compliance with international law, despite a change to its wording, as the Court of Appeal confirmed in 2018: amp.theguardian.com/law/2018/aug/0… Image The (concise) judgment of the Court of Appeal is here bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/…. It records these reassuring words from Lord Faulks, the ex-Justice Minister now heading the Commission into judicial review. Image
Sep 8, 2020 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Astonishing news. I know Jonathan Jones @PermSecGLD well: he is a lower-key character than his predecessor, but his resignation speaks volumes about the independence bred into all decent barristers. /1 It may not be fanciful to derive from this RT of @davidallengreen another recent sign of his disenchantment: it refers to the ill-judged and derogatory comment by @ukhomeoffice (which @PermSecGLD once proudly served) about "activist lawyers". /2
Sep 5, 2020 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
STOP PRESS! Just heard from @akulith’s counsel (Sir N Forwood QC and J Flynn QC) that EU’s General Court has suspended the appointment of @akulith’s successor as Advocate General of the CJEU. Text of the Order is here
Sep 3, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Bravo @itvnews for tackling this story. An independent inquiry, with international support, is urgently needed. And here it comes ... itv.com/news/2020-09-0… Sir Geoffrey Nice QC is an experienced and fair-minded lawyer: I look forward to following the progress of this latest tribunal.
Sep 2, 2020 • 9 tweets • 5 min read
There is much to support In this thorough and impressive treatment by @Law_Commission of a highly delicate subject. It features one major shift from its 2017 consultation paper. Journalists and NGOs will like it, Government not so much ... /1 A new defence to prosecutions under #OSA1989 is recommended for disclosures that, though unauthorised, are considered by a jury to be (objectively) “in the public interest”. /2 Image
Aug 19, 2020 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
This impressive NZ judgment declares the Govt to have breached the law by directing people to “stay at home” without the necessary legal authority courtsofnz.govt.nz/assets/cases/B…. /1 Image It’s the same kind of neglect for the rule of law (albeit in trying circumstances) that I was identifying in this speech: theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2020… /2 Image