IBA on terror alert

The International Bar Association (IBA) has formed a task force to examine legal issues surrounding anti-terrorism laws following the 11 September attacks on the US.

The task force comprises experts from around the globe and is headed by Justice Richard Goldstone, former chief prosecutor of the international criminal tribunals for Rwanda and Yugoslavia, and IBA vice-president Emilio Cardenas, former Argentinian ambassador to the United Nations.Baroness Helena Kennedy QC is the only UK lawyer on the task force.Key issues include the balance between individual liberties and state protection, the relationship between national law-making and international terrorism, and legal norms for conflict between state and non-state entities.The status and treatment of the terrorist suspects held at Camp X-Ray in Cuba, will also come under the microscope.Joanna Salsbury, legal adviser to the task force, said it will consult governments, policy makers and academics world wide.

It will then meet four times before presenting a draft report in October.Andrew Towler