David Anderson

Robert Buckland: Leaving the ECHR would be a grave mistake | Conservative Home Withdrawal from the ECHR would upset the delicate political balance in Northern Ireland, compromise our extradition and security arrangements, and damage our moral authority abroad. Above all, it woul...

Full article is available here via @conservativehome.bsky.social: conservativehome.com/2025/10/05/r...

Wolfson Final Report | Conservatives Wolfson Final Report

Lord Wolfson’s report has now been published www.conservatives.com/wolfson-fina...

Lord Wolfson’s report has now been published: www.conservatives.com/wolfson-fina...

Man Utd and Sunderland's minute's silence for Manchester synagogue attack victims Two people died and three people were injured in the attack at a synagogue on Thursday.

A minute’s silence impeccably observed by 74,000 people. www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

National Security and Human Rights - David Anderson QC Lawyer London UK Impact of European human rights law on UK national security, from the 1970s to the 2020s, and the likely effects on our national security of continued adherence to the ECHR

Immigration accounts for only around 1.5% of the Strasbourg caselaw. I argue here that it has had, on balance, a positive influence on UK national security. www.daqc.co.uk/2024/11/28/n...

And for an example of the core function of the ECHR, what Strasbourg absolutely should be doing in constraining state action, and which could not have been done without it.

It's too early to know and investigations will quite properly follow into what was and was not known about the Manchester attacker. It is the first seminar of my intelligence module tomorrow and I'll be starting with this from @bricksilk.bsky.social following a previous attack in Manchester

Very kind Sarah!

Conor Gearty obituary A skilled and persuasive human rights lawyer who fought for civil liberties in the face of over-reaching anti-terror law

Conor Gearty obituary - The Guardian

www.theguardian.com/law/2025/sep...

It is 20 years since Conor Gearty gave the Hamlyn Lectures on Can Human Rights Survive?
As a mark of respect following the dreadful news of his, Cambridge University Press & Assessment has made these lectures Open Access for the remainder of the year. You can find them here:
lnkd.in/e5Xrt2G5

I hope these ideas will be noted and circulated?

As beautifully written as it is devastating.

This is actually really big and very welcome. Unannounced amidst yesterday’s Hillsborough Law are new provisions to upgrade the UK’s archaic misconduct in public office offence. Big win for @spotlightcorruption.org. Here’s our analysis @bricksilk.bsky.social @csc-barrington.bsky.social

A really comprehensive analysis of the UK's commitments vis the ECHR under the GFA - applying the only meaningful legal framework, i.e. an international law analysis that takes account of the clear intent of the parties.

The rationale in a nutshell

Treaty scrutiny in Westminster: addressing the accountability gap - Committees - UK Parliament The House of Lords International Agreements Committee has today published its report, “Treaty scrutiny in Westminster: addressing the accountability gap”.

Hard-hitting and practical plea for greater parliamentary scrutiny of Treaties committees.parliament.uk/committee/44...

Ipswich Waterfront (with, for a few days only, the Santa Maria)

Cool-headed and chilling: this is an essential read.

Parliamentlive.tv House of Lords

Among a number of brilliant speeches in HL, Baroness Prentis’s (14:21:00 - against) and Lord Pannick’s (14:54:45 - for) were incredibly powerful, in completely different ways. Watch them, you will not regret it! parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/... #AssistedDying

This is terrible, terrible news. Conor taught me when he was scarcely older than I was, kept me honest where terrorism and rights are concerned, and became the most lively and amusing of friends. Hard to believe that such a force of nature is no more.

HL Constitution committee report on the Assisted Dying Bill – some serious reservations are noted publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld5901/ld....

* through his paces (not in his place)

Parliamentlive.tv Constitution Committee

The Attorney General was put through his place this morning for the first time by the HL Constitution Committee. Video here, transcript to follow in a few days: www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/....

Daesh Crimes: Accountability (JCHR Report) - Hansard - UK Parliament Hansard record of the item : 'Daesh Crimes: Accountability (JCHR Report)' on Tuesday 9 September 2025.

Prosecuting for Daesh crimes: debate today on JCHR’s important recent report hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2025-0....

I'm going to keep trying, anyway - grateful for any support. /6

This government would not abuse such powers, they (no doubt rightly) tell us - but the supply of "good chaps" may not be endless. Now more than ever, it is Parliament's job to ensure that oppressive powers are no broader than they need to be, and subject to proper safeguards. /5

Labour and Conservatives unite to ask for powers that would allow a Reform government to inflict the most extreme measures imaginable on mainstream, law-abiding visa-holders - without even needing to trouble Parliament. The mind boggles. /4

Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill - Hansard - UK Parliament Hansard record of the item : 'Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill ' on Monday 8 September 2025.

You can now read the debate in Hansard. hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2025-0.... /3

Parliamentlive.tv - Download Available

My attempt to make them think again, supported by some of the wisest peers in the House of Lords, has so far fallen on deaf ears: video here parliamentlive.tv/Download/Ind... #BorderSecurityAct /2

20 years ago, Parliament argued anxiously about whether suspected terrorists could be tagged and curfewed and confined. In 2025, government asks us to allow such powers, and more, to be used without safeguards on any temporary visa-holder: tourist, student, spouse of a UK citizen ... /1