The Law Show Folgen

The Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s Restoring Order and Control policy is underway. It's based - in part - on measures carried out in Denmark which cut asylum claims there to a 40 year low. From now on in the UK, people granted asylum - refugees - will face a review every two and a half years. If their country of origin is regarded as safe, they may be encouraged, or even forced, to go back. There are lots of other changes. If someone is refused asylum, they’ll only be allowed a single appeal. If an asylum seeker breaks the law, works illegally or can financially support themselves, they’ll lose their benefits or accommodation. Alongside the asylum reforms, there are also major changes to settlement in the UK, affecting both refugees and people on work and study visas. From now on, they will have to wait at least 10 years before they can obtain indefinite leave to remain, which means they can settle in the UK without restrictions. You may be forgiven for thinking -"these are pretty big changes, I don’t recall there being a big debate in parliament or any votes?" And you’d be correct. This was all done through secondary legislation, meaning that it’s a change to existing rules. But what are the possible legal battles for the government as it tries to introduce some of the toughest asylum laws in Europe? Presenter: Dr Joelle Grogan Editor: Tom Bigwood Producers: Ravi Naik and Charlotte Rowles Contributors: Dr Peter Walsh, Senior Researcher and lead on asylum at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford Catherine Barnard, Professor of European Law at the University of Cambridge Baroness Levitt, Family Justice Minister

Under international law, when can a country declare war on another?Was it legal for Israel and the United States to have carried out "pre-emptive" airstrikes across most of Iran’s provinces, which started the war? The USA says the attacks were justfied, because of an imminent threat from Iran's nuclear programme, and Israel claims it acted in self-defence. The Israeli President went further - telling the BBC that focusing on the legality of the war instead of regional security is "mind-boggling" to him. And what of Iran's response? Was it reasonable under international law? In the last few weeks, practically all its Gulf-state neighbours have been targeted, as well as its drones or missiles landing in Syria, Cyprus, Turkey and Azerbajan. So does the Iranian retalliation justify the American and Israeli attacks under international law? And if any country breaks international laws - are there any real consequences? Presenter: Dr Joelle Grogan Producers: Ravi Naik and Charlotte Rowles Editor: Tom BigwoodContributors: Susan Breau, Professor of International law at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London Christian Henderson, Professor of International Law, University of Sussex Éamon Chawke, intellectual property, data protection and commercial law solicitor, Briffa Legal

The Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood says she makes “no apology” for announcing the roll-out of Live Facial Recognition (LFR) to all the police services in England and Wales. Under a government white paper on policing, the number of Live Facial Recognition vans will increase from 10 to 50. Police say it’s groundbreaking technology in the fight against crime, but civil liberties groups say it’s authoritarian and a step towards a "surveillance state".Facial recognition cameras are already used in shops; the difference with LFR is that the software used by police tracks faces against a watchlist - a specific database of faces - from a live video feed. But the legal framework regulating the use of the technology is a patchwork of common law, human rights legislation and police guidelines, which has been challenged in the High Court. There is also concern about a lack of oversight over how police watchlists are compiled, and why the number of people on the list now stretches into the thousands. So is LFR legal? Presenter: Dr Joelle Grogan Producers: Ravi Naik and Charlotte Rowles Editor: Tom BigwoodContributors: Sonja Jessup, BBC London’s home affairs correspondent Professor Karen Yeung, Interdisciplinary Professorial Fellow in Law, Ethics and Informatics, Birmingham Law School Dr Asress Gikay, Senior Lecturer in AI, Disruptive Innovation and Law, Brunel, University of London Richard Ryan a barrister from Blakiston’s, specialising in drone and unmanned aviation law