Research Briefing
This Bill is now awaiting royal assent. This Note examines parliamentary scrutiny of the Bill. There have been a number of Government amendments detailed in the Note.
Research Briefing
India-Pakistan relations remain fraught with danger and mistrust. Since October 2014, there have been regular exchanges of fire between their troops across the ‘Line of Control’ which runs through contested Kashmir. Turbulent times could lie ahead.The two nuclear-armed governments accuse each other of responsibility for these skirmishes. The tenor of their exchanges has become increasingly hostile. There are also Indian claims that militant groups based on the Pakistan side of the Line of Control are seeking to infiltrate Indian-administered Kashmir in larger numbers. Over recent months, there have been several battles between militants and security forces. Hopes that India and Pakistan could resume talks in earnest following the electoral victory of Narendra Modi in India last year have not yet been realised. He is currently acting like a man for whom a deal with Pakistan is desirable but not essential. His self-confidence may soon receive another boost. Political developments within Indian Jammu and Kashmir could produce a coalition government involving his party, the BJP – an outcome which few observers would have predicted until very recently. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government is keen to do a deal with India on Kashmir and other issues but cannot afford to look weak. He will be hoping that the PDP decides against joining up with the BJP in Indian Jammu and Kashmir. The more moderate Kashmiri separatist leaders will share the dismay of the Pakistan government if it does. However, the armed militant groups – whose influence and reach have waned in recent years – are likely to be delighted if the BJP shares power, as increased political polarisation could act as a recruiting-sergeant for them. Pakistan’s anxieties about the increasingly close US-India relationship have heightened recently. President Obama recently finished a three-day visit to India in which numerous deals were signed.
Research Briefing
This paper looks at the multiple challenges facing Nigeria as it prepares for presidential and legislative elections on 14 February 2015. These elections will take place amidst an atmosphere of even greater crisis and uncertainty than usual. Boko Haram’s insurgency in the north of the country continues unabated. There are fears that the country might break up if the election aftermath is poorly handled. However, some observers remain remarkably hopeful about Nigeria’s future, predicting that its enormous economic potential is on the verge of being realised at last.
Research Briefing
This Bill would make changes aimed to strengthen the law on the recovery of the proceeds of crime. It would make amendments to the Computer Misuse Act 1990 to update existing offences. It would also provide for a new offence of participating in the activities of an organised crime group and make changes to Serious Crime Prevention Orders and gang injunctions. The Bill would provide for the seizure and forfeiture of substances used as drug-cutting agents. It would also amend the offence of child cruelty, create a new offence relating to the possession of ‘paedophile manuals’ and amend the law on Female Genital Mutilation. The Bill would create a new offence of unauthorised possession of a knife or other offensive weapon in prison and confer extra-territorial jurisdiction on the courts in respect of certain terrorism offences.
Research Briefing
A brief summary of the progress of the military campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
Research Briefing
The Bill has seven parts, designed to reduce the terrorism threat to the UK. It would strengthen powers to put temporary restrictions on travel and modify the Terrorist Prevention and Investigation Measures. It would extend the retention of relevant communications data, strengthen security for travel arrangements and make the existing Prevent programme statutory as well as address the payment of insurance for ransoms.
Research Briefing
The advance of ISIS in Iraq and Syria seems to have been slowed, but Western and regional states are struggling to formulate a convincing response to it
Research Briefing
In May 2014 the European Court of Justice ruled that a user had the right to have links to web pages about him removed from Google’s search results because the passage of time had made them “irrelevant”. This Note examines what the judgment means for search engines, for individuals and for the UK.
Research Briefing
Part of the Government’s response to cases of British nationals involved in fighting, extremist activity or terrorist training overseas is to use powers to strip people of their British citizenship status and to refuse to issue British passports. On 1 September the Prime Minister confirmed that the Government is considering what further action it can
Research Briefing
An overview of the latest developments in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Research Briefing
An emergency Bill, the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Bill, is due to pass through all its parliamentary stages between 15 and 17 July. The Bill aims to allow police and security agencies to have continued access to communications data in order to combat crime and terrorism. This Note summarises the background, the Bill and criticisms that have been made of it.
Research Briefing
A few days ago, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared that Somalia was once again in a “political crisis”. In May, UN Special Envoy to Somalia, Nicholas Kay, said that Somalia is approaching “a danger zone”. For the first year or so after President Mohamud took office in September 2012, Western supporters of the Government put a positive spin on his performance. However, there is a growing sense that President Mohamud’s government is not turning out to be the fresh start that Somalia needed. Al-Shabaab has suffered important military reverses since President Mohamud took office and is now focusing increasingly on launching regular violent attacks on government-held areas, including Mogadishu, where security has declined markedly recently. It has also increased its attacks in neighbouring Kenya, which sent troops into southern Somalia in 2011.
Research Briefing
In the northeast of Nigeria, an Islamist terrorist insurgency continues to rage. At the head of the insurgency is Boko Haram, which calls for the introduction of Sharia law and an Islamic state across the whole of Nigeria. There has been a state of emergency in the three northeastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa since mid-2013. Well over 2000 people are estimated to have died in attacks by the group since the beginning of 2014.The Nigerian authorities have been heavily criticised both at home and abroad for their ineffective response to the crisis. Outrage in Western countries following the kidnapping in April of about 270 schoolgirls in Borno state has led the UK, US and French governments to make offers of assistance to the Nigerian authorities despite the poor human rights record of the security forces.
Research Briefing
New interim government chosen after Prime Minister Ali Zeidan was ousted from office. New elections promised for July 2014. The country is plagued by violence and fighting. Fighting is often over the country’s huge oil wealth. Distinction between official security forces and unlawful militias is blurred.
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