United Kingdom (UK)
262 Articles

The Role of Judges Under UK Surveillance Laws May be About to Change
For centuries, the authorization of surveillance powers under UK law has – for the most part – been in the hands of the executive rather than judges. All that may be about…

UK Court Invalidates British Forces’ Afghan Detention Program
Today, the United Kingdom Court of Appeal handed down its judgement in Serdar Mohammed v Ministry of Defense. A case of great import for British detention policy in Afghanistan,…

UK Supreme Court Upholds Lawfulness of Questioning in Airports
In January 2011, Mrs. Sylvie Beghal and her three children were returning from a trip to Paris, where they had been visiting her husband, a French national in custody “in relation…

“International Cyber Stability” and the UN Group of Governmental Experts
In recent months, the United States has been pushing a new policy of “international cyber stability.” In a speech in Seoul in May, Secretary of State John Kerry explained that…

Uncomfortable Conversations in Geneva
The United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRC) is currently holding its annual session in Geneva to consider the reports submitted by states setting out their adherence to the…

10 Questions about the UK Spying on Amnesty International
Yesterday, the UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal informed Amnesty International that British intelligence agency GCHQ had spied on the human rights organization by intercepting…

Latest UK Judgment on Post-Snowden Surveillance
On June 22, the UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) gave its latest judgment in the post-Snowden surveillance litigation brought by several NGOs against the UK Government…

A New US-UK Data Sharing Treaty?
In a little-noticed piece of news (at least in the US), the UK has been contemplating a new international treaty to enable British authorities to access user data held by US tech…

Britain’s Al-Saadoon Case: A Matter of Human Rights Law and the use of Military Force Overseas
In March, the High Court of Justice of England and Wales found that the United Kingdom’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) can be activated extraterritorially…

UK Investigatory Powers Review: A New Blueprint for Surveillance?
“the importance of clear law, fair procedures, rights compliance and transparency: not just fashionable buzz-words, but the necessary foundation for the trust between government…

Chris Soghoian Q+A: The Next Chapter of Surveillance Reform
I recently conducted a wide-ranging Q+A with the ACLU’s chief technologist, Chris Soghoian, on a range of topics, from the “fraudulent” nature of the recent debate over Section…

The Queen’s Speech and the UK Government’s Legislative Agenda
The State Opening of Parliament took place in the UK yesterday. The focus of this event is the Queen’s Speech (full text here). This is important because it unveils the list…