Written by Nima Pourdad.
The 2018 Bristol Student Law Conference welcomed a record number of distinguished speakers, carefully selected from distinct areas within the legal profession and academia, to deliberate on the multi-faceted issue of contemporary terrorism to an audience which included over eight-hundred students from over fifteen different universities.
After the success of the 2017 Bristol Student Law Conference, which welcomed Gina Miller amongst others to discuss the ‘untangling of Britain from the European Union’, the 2018 annual Conference specifically addressed the nature and future of terror prevention, from a legal dimension. It was in the setting of the Great Hall within the Wills Memorial Building, enveloped with a sense of admiration for the history of the surrounding architecture and artwork, that the legal response to contemporary terrorism was postulated.
Speakers of different persuasions attended in the attempt to ensure the debate encompassed the multitude of views on the presented issues. University of Bristol lecturer Dr Cian Murphy began proceedings with an account of a response to terrorism, positing questions for the audience to consider on the issue of the lawfulness of such a response, and the utility of anti-terror legislation in the first instance. Dr Katy Sian, University of York sociology lecturer, then spoke on her conceptualised critique to the Prevent anti-terror strategy, utilising the teachings of criminologist Cesare Lombroso, and the argued continuity of racist thought that she believed inherent in the anti-terror policy. Professor David Feldman QC, University of Cambridge and ex-Bristol professor, finished the morning session, with a presentation on squaring the response to terror within the confines of the constitution.
The afternoon session began with a workshop with public and human rights barrister, and Bristol alumni, David Gottlieb, whom discussed the series of distinguished cases in which he advocated; this included successfully defending the wife of the terrorist who murdered Fusilier Lee Rigby, near his barracks in Woolwich, London. This was followed by Lord Jonathan Evans, former MI5 director and Bristol alumni, whom gave a detailed lecture on the view of a practitioner to counter-terrorism strategy and the law, describing the practicalities of, and rationale behind pre-trial detentions, surveillance powers, secret trials, and control orders.
Nazir Afzal OBE, former Chief Crown Prosecutor, then gave an account of his experience working within the Crown Prosecution Service as a lawyer, prosecuting those under terror charges, and the practical framework in which anti-terror strategy is placed in prosecution and investigation. Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, honorary law professor at Bristol and shadow Attorney General for England and Wales, then finished the lectures from our distinguished guests by providing an in-depth understanding of the legalities of anti-terror legislation, in response to the ‘Age of Terror’. The day ended with a panel event chaired by University of Bristol lecturer Dr Katie Bales, whom invited our speakers, in addition to University of Bristol Professor Steven Greer, to take questions from the audience.
Though terror can be a somewhat divisive and poignant topic, the integrity of academic discussion, through the articulation of their individual and varying views on the panel, was upheld in its totality. It is thus proper to leave this article with a quote from Professor David Feldman QC whilst on the panel, commenting on the suggested growing intolerance within society; “we need to live in a society where people are free to hold strong views but won’t refuse to play their part when things don’t go their way”.