Another counter-terrorism bill: Necessary or a knee-jerk reaction?

The government has published a new Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill 2020, just over a year after the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019, and mere months after the Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release) Act 2020. Since 2000, the government has enacted 11 different pieces of terrorism legislation.

The Bill was described by the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation as "conspicuous for its lack of safeguards” (Note of 5 June 2020).

Are the powers proposed in this Bill necessary and proportionate or are they a knee-jerk reaction to the terror attacks of the past year? 

Topics we will discuss include:

• Significant changes to the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures regime, including lowering the standard of proof and removing the two year cap.
• Introduction of a "Serious Terrorism Sentence”.
• End of early release and increase in maximum licence periods for "serious and dangerous terrorist offenders”.
• Removal of the statutory deadline for an independent review of the Prevent programme, introduced as a safeguard in 2019.

About the Speakers
 

Fatima Jichi, Pupil Barrister, Garden Court Chambers (Chair)
Fatima commenced pupillage in October 2019. She is already building a practice in her own right and has a particular interest and expertise in public law, claims against the police and public authorities, inquests and mental health law. Fatima previously worked with the former Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, Max Hill QC, to review the operation of the Terrorism Acts as well as their impact on community and individual rights. She also worked as a consultant for Forward Thinking, an organisation that connects policymakers with marginalised communities, scrutinising the impact of counter terrorism police raids. Prior to joining the Bar, Fatima worked as a senior medical statistician at UCL, and also at the Institute of Psychiatry (KCL). This makes her particularly suited to instruction in cases arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic and other medical cases because of her expertise in the juxtaposition of health and the law. 

Amanda Weston QC, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Amanda’s public law practice includes appellate and review work in terrorism-related cases in SIAC and the higher courts including immigration & nationality, sanctions, TPIMs and licence conditions for TACT offenders. Since successfully representing Abu Hamza in his appeal against deprivation of British citizenship in 2009, she has developed a niche specialism in civil law counter-terror measures. She writes the chapter on SIAC in Macdonald’s Immigration & Nationality Law & Practice and teaches, trains and writes on the subject. She has a particular interest in the rights of affected children and families.

Shina Animashaun, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Shina Animashaun joined Garden Court Chambers in early 2020 and continues to develop a practice across the spectrum of general and international crime. Shina has previously worked at the United Nations, and a variety of non-profit legal organisations including JUSTICE and Modernising Justice (formerly the Homicide Review Advisory Group). Shina was recently led in a high profile terrorism trial, where he represented a defendant charged with being a member of a proscribed organisation. He has also assisted in the preparation of terrorist funding trials, and crimes against humanity (including genocide, sexual violence, deportation and forced transfer).

Dr Katy Sian, Lecturer, University of York
Dr Katy P. Sian is a Lecturer in Sociology at the University of York. She completed her PhD in 2009 at the University of Leeds in the School of Sociology and Social Policy. From 2010-2012 Katy worked on the TOLERACE project as a post-doctoral researcher in the Centre for Ethnicity and Racism Studies (CERS) at the University of Leeds. She moved to the University of Manchester in 2012 where she held a lecturing position in Sociology before taking up a Hallsworth Research Fellowship in 2013. Katy has held visiting research posts at the University of California Humanities Research Institute (UCHRI) and the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society (CSRS) at the University of Victoria, Canada. Katy is the author of, Navigating Institutional Racism in British Universities (2019), Conversations in Postcolonial Thought (2014), Unsettling Sikh and Muslim Conflict (2013), and co-author of, Racism, Governance, and Public Policy (2013).

Tayab Ali, Partner, Bindmans 
Tayab is an internationally recognised and highly respected Solicitor Advocate. His practice encompasses criminal and civil/public law in both the UK and international jurisdictions. He is routinely retained by high profile, high net worth, clients seeking to protect their reputations against false public and criminal allegations. Tayab has acted in many of the most high profile and complex criminal trials over the last two decades. He is considered to be one of the country’s leading solicitors on counter-terrorism law, having acted in numerous high profile cases over the last two decades. He was the solicitor in the Supreme Court case, R v Gul, which defined "terrorism" in the context of military attacks by non-State armed groups in a non-international armed conflict and recently acted on behalf of Sally Lane and John Letts who were accused of funding terrorism when they sent money to their son, Jack Letts in Syria. 

Lord Anderson of Ipswich KBE QC, Barrister, Brick Court Chambers
David Anderson is a QC practising from Brick Court Chambers in EU-related, human rights and public law. He served as Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation from 2011 to 2017, reporting on a variety of national security issues including control orders and TPIMs. Since 2018 he has sat in the House of Lords as a cross-bench “people’s peer”.  He is a Visiting Professor at King’s College London, an appellate judge in the Channel Islands, and chairs the international conflict resolution charity Inter-Mediate.”

This webinar will be delivered online via Zoom. Joining details will be sent to registered delegates prior to the webinar.