Professor Sir Nigel Rodley from the Human Rights Centre in the School of Law was one of three international lawyers and two criminal law experts invited to take part in a seminar organised by the Detainee Inquiry chaired by Sir Peter Gibson.

The independent inquiry was set up by the Prime Minister David Cameron to examine whether the UK was implicated in improper treatment of terror suspects held by other countries in the aftermath of 9/11. This includes suspected terrorists held abroad in places like Pakistan and Guantanamo Bay.

The remit also covers possible involvement in ‘extraordinary renditions’, meaning the seizure of people without any process and transferring them to other jurisdictions.

Sir Nigel addressed the meeting on the international law on prohibition of torture, the notion of complicity under the 1984 UN Convention Against Torture and the legal consequences for states and individual officials involved in torture.

On the same day Sir Nigel also attended the second meeting of Foreign Secretary William Hague’s Advisory Group on Human Rights. Issues discussed included developments in the Middle East and North Africa, policy on freedom of religion and policy development on business and human rights.