Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #CoronavirusAct2020
Most recents (3)
@fascinatorfun @mikarv It looks like the SI for the 2nd six-month extension of the retention of #DNA & #biometrics powers for National Security Determinations, under s24 of the #CoronavirusAct2020.
The statutory guidance for NSDs is here:
gov.uk/government/pub…
If they are using NSDs (which must...
The statutory guidance for NSDs is here:
gov.uk/government/pub…
If they are using NSDs (which must...
@fascinatorfun @mikarv ...be in writing, and signed by a senior police officer in each individual case) for any purpose OTHER than those laid out in the relevant counter-terrorism laws, then they're truly fucked.
Maybe ask the Biometrics Commissioner how many NSDs have been made under COVID?
Maybe ask the Biometrics Commissioner how many NSDs have been made under COVID?
@fascinatorfun @mikarv Extending 'em a further six months is worrying for reasons other than just the extraordinary powers themselves, though: it's an admission from Government that police forces' capacities are as limited as they were at the peak of the first wave, for matters of #NationalSecurity...
Benet Brandreth QC and Guy Sandhurst (ne Mansfield) QC of @SocConLaw have revived the debate about whether the lockdown Regs are lawful (they say not): …3-4e55-8088-a1c763d8c9d1.usrfiles.com/ugd/e1a359_e1c…. It is certainly odd that the position was not put beyond doubt in #CoronavirusAct2020.
Debate on the lawfulness of the #Coronavirus Regulations started on the day they were made daqc.co.uk/2020/03/26/can…. Subsequent contributions have been of very high quality … /1
… ranging from @jeff_a_king (who is satisfied the Regs are lawful ukconstitutionallaw.org/2020/04/01/jef…) to @TomRHickman and colleagues (coronavirus.blackstonechambers.com/coronavirus-an…, paras 31-46) and @RobertCraig3 (ukhumanrightsblog.com/2020/04/06/loc…) who in strong pieces posted today amplify my doubts. /2
Hickman and I consider that a "plausible" defence of the legal basis for the Regulations could be mounted before a sympathetic court, while Craig suggests that they might be declared invalid with prospective effect, giving Parliament a chance to rectify the situation. /3
