David Anderson QC, the influential independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, has announced that he will stand down next year.
Rather than seek a third three-year term for the increasingly demanding part-time role, he has informed the home secretary, Theresa May, that he will leave in February 2017.
In a statement explaining his decision, Anderson also revealed that his office would receive additional funding to employ more special advisers. “I have found the job immensely rewarding,” he said. “But I will soon have submitted some 20 reports over six years, not to mention 5,000 tweets, and expressed my opinions on the terrorism laws (and allied subjects) countless times to parliamentary committees and to media.
”I believe that from early next year (by which time I aim to have published four further reports), the value I can bring to the role will begin to decline, and that it will be time for a new incumbent with a new set of skills.”
The post would be advertised within a month or two, he said, with an appointment being made if possible in the early autumn. Anderson added: “It would be good to have a really strong list of applicants – not limited to the white males who have done the job since the 1970s.”
He was appointed in 2011, succeeding Alex Carlile QC. The independent reviewer scrutinises the operation of the UK’s laws on terrorism and produces reports.
Anderson has been one of the most informed voices in the public debate over surveillance since revelations made by former CIA employee Edward Snowden.
Last year Anderson published a 372-page review entitled A question of trust which contained more than 100 recommendations and opened the way for the government’s investigatory powers bill, which is going through parliament.
Anderson’s three advisers are to be Clive Walker QC, a terrorism expert at Leeds University, Alyson Kilpatrick, a Northern Ireland barrister, and Hashi Mohamed, a London barrister.
