Research Briefing
2013 will be another important year for Pakistan. Federal and provincial elections will be held during the first half of the year. If, as seems increasingly likely, the Pakistan People’s Party-led Government sees out its full term in office and hands over to a civilian successor, it will be the first time in Pakistan’s history that this has happened. But the political and economic situation remains highly volatile and unpredictable.
Research Briefing
Mali has been in crisis since March 2012, when the military overthrew the government of Amadou Toumani Touré. Within weeks of the coup, a coalition of Tuareg rebels and militant Islamist armed groups pushed the national army out of the north of the country. There is now growing momentum behind proposals to create a regional military intervention force. But many questions remain about the wisdom of this course of action.
Research Briefing
This Note describes the law on wheel clamping on public roads and the legal position of clamping on private land. As this is a devolved issue in Scotland it deals with England and Wales only.
Research Briefing
This short note sets out the Government’s proposals, contained in the Justice and Security Green Paper (Cm 8194, 2011) to extend the use of closed material procedures (CMPs) in civil court cases. It also provides some background material on the use of Special Advocates.
Research Briefing
This note looks at the history of the two programmes, cites the justifications given by successive governments for what critics have dubbed a “snooper’s charter” and details some of the objections that have been raised against surveillance of this sort.
Research Briefing
This note summarises the Lords amendments to the Protection of Freedoms Bill, which are due to be considered by the Commons on 19 March 2012.
Research Briefing
This note provides a short history of Government policy on the pre-charge detention of terrorist suspects and considers proposals for change suggested by the Coalition Government, which have been included in the Protection of Freedoms Bill.
Research Briefing
This note surveys the military set-backs experienced by al-Shabaab since the beginning of 2011, the motives behind the current Kenyan incursion into southern Somalia, recent international efforts to promote a viable political process on the ground and the continuing food crisis in the country.
Research Briefing
Anwar al-Awlaqi, a dual US-Yemeni citizen described as the “leader of external operations for Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula”, was killed by a US drone attack in Yemen on 30 September 2011. Whether this was legal under international or US law is a matter of considerable debate.
Research Briefing
This note is intended to provide a brief summary of the key provisions of the Act and the use that the Home Secretary has made of the powers under the Act since it came into force.
Research Briefing
This paper provides a broad introduction to Southeast Asia. It offers key facts and figures about the region, followed by country studies of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It then looks more analytically at two key issues for the region: democratisation and Islamist terrorism. It ends with a select bibliography.
Research Briefing
This note provides background information about the prohibition on using intercept evidence in terrorism trials. Subject to a limited number of exceptions, evidence from intercepted communications or any related communications data is inadmissible in legal proceedings under provisions currently set out in section 17 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. It is important to note that the bar on intercept extends beyond terrorism cases (and concerns have been expressed in respect of coroner's inquests for example). However, this note only focuses on the use of intercept material in counter-terrorism proceedings.
Research Briefing
This paper is essentially a short selective bibliography of resources on the Intelligence and Security Committee.
Research Briefing
Since December 2010, the most profound process of change has affected the countries of the Arab world. The change spread quickly between the countries of the region, underlining the many common factors that provoked unrest. How the region’s revolutions progress, however, depends on the individual characteristics of each country, which are very different. This paper looks at these similarities and differences and considers the possible outcomes in each case. The legitimacy of ruling regimes, the effect of societies’ divisions along confessional lines and the role of the region’s militaries are considered.
Research Briefing
The Government published the Draft Enhanced Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Bill (Cm 8166) on 1 September 2011.
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