Episode 008: "I rather wish the word terrorism had never been introduced to the statue books."

Nomosphone: A Global Law Podcast

During the Spring and Summer of 2017 we witnessed a chain of terrorism-related attacks in the United Kingdom. These events have contributed to shifting the focus and debate from events occurring abroad to those in the UK and the effectiveness of domestic counter-terrorism policy. In view of an increasing number of anti-terrorism legislative instruments across jurisdictions as well as sustained criticism as to their broad scope and intrusion into the lives of citizens, we continue our discussion of the ongoing political debate surrounding the operation of anti-terrorism law by focusing on those in the UK and by looking at what role independent review of legislation can play in the process. Arguably, with the threat from terrorism continuing to evolve and diversify, it is vital that a robust oversight exists to ensure the counter-terrorism laws are fair, necessary and proportionate. We had the privilege to meet with Mr. David Anderson QC, who previously held the position of Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation in the UK - a highly unique role in Europe. Our discussion elucidates not only the critical role of the Independent Reviewer in the policy debate surrounding national security and terrorism, but also any duties of the State to ensure such legislation complies with the State's obligations towards its citizens. We thank Mr. David Anderson QC, appointed as the UK's Independent Reviewer of terrorism legislation from 2011-2017 for his insightful contribution to this episode. This episode was produced by Selina Holstein and Kaisa Miettinen and narrated and edited by Benjamin Wiles. Be sure to subscribe to our Soundcloud and Facebook pages to stay up to date on our most recent episodes. And if you like what we do, please leave us a review in iTunes - it really helps get the word out about Nomosphone! A special thanks to Hindenburg podcast editing software. We acknowledge the following songs used in their original format in accordance with Creative Commons licensing: "Just Watching", “Golden Hour“ and “Blue” by Podington Bear (CC BY-NC 3.0) and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/legalcode. We also acknowledge the use of the following public broadcast footage (with original broadcast date): CNN (23 January 2010), The Telegraph (1 September 2014), BBC News (4 June 2017), and BBC News (7 June 2017).