The Annual Covert Policing Conference
Event Information
Description
Covert Policing Training & Publishing Ltd
The Annual Covert Policing Conference
2 December 2015 |Hilton Green Park Hotel, London | £250
It is difficult to recall a moment in English legal history when covert policing was so controversial- and not just one aspect of it- every facet of government surveillance is in a state of flux. Whether it is the fallout from the revelations of Edward Snowden or undercover policing the effect has been to subject the nature, methodology and accountability of covert policing operations to international scrutiny.
In its flagship conference of the year the Covert Policing Training and Publishing Company intend to confront some of the key issues presenting views from the country’s leading experts.
Covering the breadth of the subject this year’s Covert Policing Conference will consider the following issues:
- Surveillance and journalistic sources
- Acquisition of legal professional privilege
- Defining surveillance
- The reviews into RIPA 2000
- The Investigatory Powers Bill
- Secret justice
- Undercover policing
- Oversight
- Future issues
Conference Programme
1000 to 1030
Opening address:
Undercover policing review and the future of covert policing
Jon Boutcher, Chief Constable of Bedfordshire Police
1030 to 1120
Surveillance, legal privilege and journalistic sources
Matthew Ryder QC, Matrix Chambers
1120 to 1140
Tea & Coffee break
1140 to 1230
Secret Justice: managing sensitive intelligence in the Court room
Dr Karen Cooper, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Derby
1230 to 1330
Lunch
1330 to 1350
Reflections on undercover policing
Rob Evans, The Guardian
1350 to 1430
Going under the covers while undercover? Ethical issues in covert policing
Natalie Wortley, Barrister and Principal Lecturer in Law, Northumbria University
1430 to 1450
Tea & Coffee Break
1450 to 1520
The Investigatory Powers Bill: a practical insight
Dr Cian Murphy, Kings College London
1520 to 1550
Covert Policing Law Update
Simon McKay, Barrister & Author of ‘Covert Policing Law & Practice’
1550 to 1600
Conference close
Jon Boutcher
Jon was appointed Chief Constable in August 2015. He joined Bedfordshire in June 2014 as Deputy Chief Constablehaving previously served as an Assistant Chief Constable of Hertfordshire Police. With over 30 years’ police service, he has previously worked on the Regional and National Crime Squad, targeting serious and organised crime groups with links to international criminal networks. He was the case officer responsible for the UK’s largest cocaine seizure of that time, this investigation led to new legislation regarding the use of covert police tactics. He has been seconded to the Anti-Terrorist Branch at New Scotland Yard as the Senior Investigating Officer for numerous national security operations working under the command of (now retired) Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke.
Jon has held the position of the National Coordinator for Pursue under the UK Contest strategy. This involved Jon managing the national police network in England and Wales for Counter Terrorism. He has worked within the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism in the Home Office acting as an advisor on policing issues specifically those related to national security
Jon is the Director for the ACPO Counter Terrorism Commanders’ Course that trains executive officers in the UK for command of extreme threat terrorist plots. He is the national policing lead for Technical Surveillance Units (TSU). This involves the manipulation of technologies within covert policing. Jon also has the national policing lead for the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), the legislation that manages investigatory powers that can represent significant intrusions into the private lives of people. Jon is responsible for monitoring and reviewing relevant legal advice and guidance, and for ensuring good practice is evaluated and disseminated to ensure consistency and legal compliance in national covert policing.
He is the deputy national policing lead for cybercrime and sits on a number of national cyber groups with Government departments, law enforcement agencies and partnerships; he leads on developing the existing legislation to assist agencies fight cybercrime. Jon is currently studying for a Masters Degree at Cambridge University for which his thesis is researching the characteristics of the cyber offender to help policing improve future cyber prevention strategies.
Matthew Ryder QC
Matthew’s specialisms cover serious and complex criminal work and its overlap with civil litigation. He is often instructed in serious crime cases (including fraud, terrorism, national security and international crime) as well as complex cases involving policing, surveillance, RIPA, abuse of process, search warrants and production orders.
Matthew is experienced in leading teams through every level of litigation from the early stages of pre-charge investigation and trial, through to the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court. He is one of a very small number of advocates who has been instructed in both the European Court of Human Rights and the International Criminal Court in The Hague. He is frequently instructed in cases because they are factually complex and / or involve novel or unusual points of law.
In 2010 he was one of only three barristers recognised in both civil and criminal fields when appointed Queen’s counsel. He has been leading counsel in major fraud and terrorist trials; large civil claims for damages; public law challenges to policing and government powers, financial, regulatory and disciplinary proceedings; challenges relating to freedom of expression and political protest.
Matthew’s trial experience in high profile cases has included cross-examining police officers accused of serious misconduct, Al Qaeda supergrasses, MI5 and MI6 operatives, politicians, tabloid editors and journalists, as well as a wide range of scientific, medical, financial and academic experts.
Dr Karen Cooper
Dr Karen Cooper took up her first academic position at the University of Derby in 2006. Her Doctoral studies focused on Money Laundering Regulations 2007 and the misuse of informal value transfer systems for terrorism finance. She currently teaches transnational crime, international criminal law and approaches to security and counter terrorism on the post graduate programmes at the University of Derby. Her research focuses on the investigation of terrorist finance, the use of intelligence, sanctions, and human trafficking.
Rob Evans
Rob has worked for the Guardian as a reporter since 1999. He has won awards for his work both on corruption scandals and for promoting freedom of information. With a colleague Paul Lewis, he wrote a book, Undercover, about the infiltration of undercover police officers into political groups over the past 40 years. He is also the author of Gassed: British chemical warfare experiments on humans at Porton Down (House of Stratus, 2000). He has also worked for the Financial Times, the Sunday Telegraph, and local papers.
Natalie Wortley
Natalie Wortley is a barrister and Principal Lecturer in Law at Northumbria University. She was called to the Bar in 1999 and is a member of New Park Court Chambers. She practised until 2010, prosecuting and defending a range of cases in the Crown Court, including fraud, sexual offences and homicide, and was a member of the Attorney General’s panel of prosecution advocates. She is a former Inns of Court Pegasus Scholar and Grade A advocacy trainer, accredited to teach pupil barristers and new practitioners, and to train new teachers of advocacy.
Natalie is Deputy Director of the Centre for Evidence and Criminal Justice Studies and case note editor for the Journal of Criminal Law. She teaches and researches in the fields of criminal law, criminal procedure and evidence. Natalie’s research focusses on persons with mental disorder in the criminal justice system, and on capacity, consent and policing issues, with particular emphasis on evidential and procedural aspects. She frequently contributes to the Journal of Criminal Law out of this research, and has led on several Law Commission Consultation Responses in related areas.
Natalie has organised and contributed to numerous research events for the Centre for Evidence and Criminal Justice Studies, and she is regularly invited to speak at seminars and conferences, including the 2014 Grange Conference for consultant psychiatrists and the Law Commission’s symposium on unfitness to plead. She has co-authored textbooks on Criminal Law, Evidence and the English Legal System and is a frequent contributor to academic and practitioner journals.
Dr. Cian C. Murphy
Dr Cian Murphy is a faculty member at The Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London, where he directs the National Security Law Research and Policy Initiative. He was previously a Fulbright-Schuman Scholar at Georgetown University Law Center and the New York University School of Law, and the Academic Co-Director of the Center for Transnational Legal Studies in London.
Dr Murphy’s research centres on the relationship between public power and the individual - in particular in the fields of counter-terrorism law, security co-operation, and transnational governance. His first monograph, EU Counter-terrorism Law: Pre-emption and the Rule of Law won the Society of Legal Scholars Peter Birks Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship (Second Prize) in 2013. A new expanded paperback edition, written to take into account the initial response to new violence in Iraq and Syria, was published in 2015.
Dr Murphy’s other books include the collections Law and Outsiders (co-edited with Penny Green) and EU Security and Justice Law: After Lisbon and Stockholm (co-edited with Diego Acosta Arcarazo). He is currently editing an Edward Elgar Research Collection on Transnational Law with David D. Caron, and writing his second monograph, Control Beyond the State: Transnational Counter-terrorism Law. His research has had the support of the Arts & Humanities Research Council, National University of Ireland, Modern Law Review, EU Framework Programme 7, and British Academy.
Simon McKay
Simon is a barrister specialising in criminal and human rights law. He is recognised nationally and internationally for his expertise in covert policing and surveillance law.
His work encompasses:
- Defence and appellate work in criminal proceedings (including murder, serious sex offences and Official Secrets Act matters)
- Sports and professional disciplinary proceedings
- Judicial review
- Civil actions, including human rights claims, against the police and other public authorities (particular interest in article 2 cases and witness protection issues)
- Media work where it involves a criminal or human rights issue
- Whistle blowing claims arising in either the criminal or civil jurisdictions
He is widely published and author of the book ‘Covert Policing Law and Practice’ published by oxford University Press. The second edition of this bestselling text was released earlier this year.
For further information or to book your place email: info@covertpolicing.com or call 0845 123 5571 for a booking form