‘Child spies’ bill could face Lords defeat as Tory peers rebel – The Guardian

‘Tory peers, bishops and crossbenchers could inflict defeat on the government after an outcry over new guidance which allows state agencies to use children as undercover spies as part of the government’s covert intelligence bill.’

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The Guardian, 13th January 2021

Source: www.theguardian.com

MI6 kept quiet about ‘criminality’ of agent with ‘licence to kill’ – The Guardian

‘MI6 failed to make clear to the foreign secretary that a “high risk agent” operating overseas had probably engaged in “serious criminality” until it was pointed out by an independent regulator last year.’

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The Guardian, 15th December 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

As a victim of undercover police spying, this inquiry has left me bruised, but buoyed – The Guardian

Posted November 25th, 2020 in deceit, demonstrations, inquiries, investigatory powers, news, police, victims by sally

‘Uncovering that my partner was ‘Mark Kennedy’ was traumatic, but there’s hope in being part of something bigger than myself.’

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The Guardian, 25th November 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Met police told 40% of recruits must be from BAME backgrounds – The Guardian

‘Britain’s biggest police force must hire 40% of new recruits from ethnic minority backgrounds, while officers will have to justify stop and search to community panels under new plans designed to quell the race crisis engulfing Scotland Yard.’

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The Guardian, 13th November 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Met Police traffic stops to be reviewed as part of Action Plan – BBC News

‘Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has called for police traffic stops to be reviewed to look at whether black people are disproportionately affected by some police tactics.’

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BBC News, 13th November 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Protesters spied on by undercover officers call for ‘end to political policing’ as inquiry begins – The Independent

‘Undercover Policing Inquiry to begin more than five years after being announced by Theresa May.’

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The Independent, 1st November 2020

Source: www.independent.co.uk

The Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill 2020 – Garden Court Chambers

‘The Government recently submitted the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill to Parliament. This Bill seeks to put the ability of undercover operatives to commit criminal offences in the course of their deployment on a statutory footing. It will be achieved by amending the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) to allow a diverse range of state agencies to authorise their Covert Human Intelligence Source (CHIS) to commit criminal offences where necessary for protecting national security, preventing or detecting crime or disorder, or protecting the economic wellbeing of the UK. This will have the effect of making such activity “lawful for all purposes”, which, without providing so explicitly, effectively means full civil and criminal immunity for those who act within the terms of the authorisation.’

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Garden Court Chambers, 8th October 2020

Source: www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk

Black people nine times more likely to face stop and search than white people – The Guardian

‘Black people are nine times more likely to be stopped and searched by police than white people, official figures for England and Wales show.’

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The Guardian, 27th October 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Individual privacy versus national security: where is the line? – Lamb Chambers

‘Oscar Davies discusses the recent Privacy International case and its wider implications, in which the CJEU held that UK law went too far in permitting “general and indiscriminate” access of bulk communications data to MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.’

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Lamb Chambers, October 2020

Source: www.lambchambers.co.uk

New stop and search powers for convicted knife criminals – Home Office

‘Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs) are designed to ensure repeat offenders are more likely to be caught and put in prison.’

Full press release

Home Office, 14th September 2010

Source: www.gov.uk/home-office

Stop and search: Ministers launch consultation on extending powers for known knife offenders – The Independent

‘Ministers have launched a consultation to give police greater powers to stop and search individuals with prior knife convictions.’

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The Independent, 14th September 2020

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Ensuring the lawfulness of automated facial recognition surveillance in the UK – Oxford Human Rights Hub

‘In R(Bridges) v South Wales Police, the England and Wales Court of Appeal reviewed the lawfulness of the use of live automated facial recognition technology (‘AFR’) by the South Wales Police Force. CCTV camera­­s capture images of the public, which are then compared with digital images of persons on a watchlist.’

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Oxford Human Rights Hub, 3rd September 2020

Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk

Facial Recognition Technology not “In Accordance with Law” – UK Human Rights Blog

‘The Court of Appeal, overturning a Divisional Court decision, has found the use of a facial recognition surveillance tool used by South Wales Police to be in breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The case was brought by Liberty on behalf of privacy and civil liberties campaigner Ed Bridges. The appeal was upheld on the basis that the interference with Article 8 of the ECHR, which guarantees a right to privacy and family life, was not “in accordance with law” due to an insufficient legal framework. However, the court found that, had it been in accordance with law, the interference caused by the use of facial recognition technology would not have been disproportionate to the goal of preventing crime. The court also found that Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) was deficient, and that the South Wales Police (SWP), who operated the technology, had not fulfilled their Public Sector Equality Duty.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 13th August 2020

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Police’s Automated Facial Recognition Deployments Ruled Unlawful by the Court of Appeal – Doughty Street Chambers

‘R. (Bridges) v Chief Constable of South Wales [2020] EWCA Civ 1058 [2020] 8 WLUK 64 is thought to be the first case in the world to consider the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement agencies. In this short article, we explore the judgment and its implications for the deployment of these and similar technologies in future.’

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Doughty Street Chambers, 12th August 2020

Source: insights.doughtystreet.co.uk

Let’s face it: use of automated facial recognition technology by the police – UK Police Law Blog

‘The case of R (Bridges) v Chief Constable of South Wales Police & Information Commissioner [2020] EWCA Civ 1058 (handed down on 11 August 2020) was an appeal from what is said to have been the first claim brought before a court anywhere on planet earth concerning the use by police of automated facial recognition (“AFR”) technology. There could be nothing wrong with posting scores of police officers with eidetic memories to look out for up to a 800 wanted persons at public gatherings. So why not use a powerful computer, capable of matching 50 faces a second with a database of (under) 800 suspects, to do this job much more cheaply and instantaneously, flagging any matches to a human operator for final assessment? According to the Court of Appeal in Bridges, this system constitutes an interference with Article 8 rights which is not such as is in accordance with the law, but which (critically) would be proportionate if a sufficiently narrow local policy were framed.’

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UK Police Law Blog, 11th August 2020

Source: ukpolicelawblog.com

South Wales police lose landmark facial recognition case – The Guardian

‘Campaigners are calling for South Wales police and other forces to stop using facial recognition technology after the court of appeal ruled that its use breached privacy rights and broke equalities law.’

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The Guardian, 11th August 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

MI6 apologises for court ‘interference’ – BBC News

Posted July 28th, 2020 in intelligence services, investigatory powers, news, tribunals by sally

‘MI6 officers have been accused of attempting to interfere in a major legal battle over crimes linked to intelligence agencies.’

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BBC News, 27th July 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

What are my rights if I’m stopped and searched? – BBC News

‘The police watchdog is launching a review into whether police tactics, such as stop and search, discriminate against ethnic minorities.’

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BBC News, 10th July 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

How stop and search in the UK is failing black people – video explainer – The Guardian

‘There has been renewed criticism over stop and search in the UK after research found that BAME people are 54% more likely to be fined under coronavirus rules than white people. The subsequent death of George Floyd in the US and the support for the Black Lives Matter movement has brought more scrutiny to the disproportionality.’

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The Guardian, 7th July 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Daniella Lock: The ‘Third Direction case’ Part One: Miller (Nos 1 and 2) in the National Security Context? – UK Constitutional Law Association

‘The ‘Third Direction case’, soon to be brought before the Court of Appeal, concerns the lawfulness of a previously secret national security policy of the UK Government. The policy authorises agents of the Security Service (MI5) to engage in criminal activity, which the claimants allege include the carrying out of torture and murder. Hearings on the case were held in November last year in the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), a specialist tribunal which adjudicates complaints on state surveillance and the conduct of the Security Services (MI5, MI6 and GCHQ). The IPT produced a judgment remarkably quickly, published in December.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 7th July 2020

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org