(No) Freedom of Speech at Universities?
Universities are meant to be places where freedom of speech flourishes. The issue of free speech in universities in the UK has been recently examined by the Joint Committee on...
Counter-terrorism
The UK Government’s Promised Review of Counter-Terror Law and Strategy
In less than three months, the UK has suffered from four major terror attacks. As the UK is recovering after the attacks in London Bridge and Borough Market, and in...
Human Rights and Counterterrorism
Last week Theresa May argued that human rights laws that impede effective counter-terrorism should be changed. Keir Starmer disagrees, arguing that human rights and effective counterterrorism are complementary. Who is...
Derogating from Fundamental Human Rights under the Turkish State of Emergency
Five days after the coup failed on 15 July 2016 in Turkey, the Turkish government declared a state of emergency from 21 July 2016 for a period of ninety days,...
What kind of extremist will you be?
The UK Government’s procedure for identifying ‘dangerous extremists’ has come under legal scrutiny (at long last) in a High Court test case. The litigation was brought by Mr. Salman Butt,...
Work of Oxford Pro Bono Publico for UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention receives Supreme Court backing
After a record long gestation period the Supreme Court today handed down its judgment in Belhaj v Jack Straw & Sir Mark Allen and Rahmatullah (No 1) v Ministry of...
Lifting the Veil on Enforced Disappearances and Extrajudicial Killings in Kenya
Kenya has experienced an upsurge in cases of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings over the last five years, a situation that has not gone unnoticed in the international arena. The...
Swazi Court Reiterates Prominence of Human Rights in their Home-Grown Constitution
In September 2016, the High Court in Swaziland ruled that certain provisions in the Sedition and Subversive Activities and Suppression of Terrorism Acts were unconstitutional. The Court held that the...
Speech and Spies: Why Sri Lanka’s New Counterterrorism Law is a Terrible Idea
A year ago, Sri Lanka promised the world that it would repeal its current Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). In a historic co-sponsored resolution, it assured the UN Human Rights...
Administrative Decisions and Terrorist Suspects: The UK Supreme Court’s Decision in Youssef v SSFC
The month of January witnessed an important UK Supreme Court decision in Youssef v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (“Youssef”) pertaining to civil rights. It considered a...
Endangering Democracy: Concerns Over Raising Surveillance in China
Control over cyber space and information, particularly citizens’ data, has defined modern strategies of combating terrorism through technologies. Justifications provided for extensive surveillance legislation that may impinge civil liberties have...
Journalism, Detention and Anti-Terrorism Powers
Few would dispute that journalistic sources and material deserve special legal protection in a liberal democracy. But few would suggest that this protection should confer a licence to damage national...
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