Masters of the Bench

David Anderson (Lord Anderson of Ipswich KBE KC) practises from Brick Court Chambers in London in administrative and public law, EU-related law and European human rights law. He is a former Recorder in crime, a member of the Courts of Appeal of Jersey and Guernsey and a visiting Professor at King's College London. He is the author of “References to the European Court” (Sweet & Maxwell 1995; 2nd edn. with Marie Demetriou 2002). 

Between 2011 and 2017 he served as the UK's Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation. His reports “A Question of Trust” and “Bulk Powers Review” preceded the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, on which he reported again in 2023. Further reports concerned improvements to intelligence-handling after the 2017 attacks in Manchester and London. In 2018 he was knighted for services to national security and civil liberties.

David applied to be appointed a “People’s Peer”, and has been an active cross-bencher since 2018. He spoke about the work in the third of his Treasurers’ Lectures, “The Lords and the Law” (2022). He is currently a member of the House of Lords Constitution Committee.

He also chairs the European Institute at UCL and Inter Mediate, a charity led by Jonathan Powell which aims to advance conflict resolution and reconciliation through dialogue and mediation with the aim of achieving lasting settlement to violent and complex conflicts.