National Security Law

There are no formal entry requirements to our Executive Education courses, however, typically our applicants will have: 

• A minimum of three years' work experience
• A Bachelor's degree or higher, or work experience commensurate to this.

1. Standard: £2,000
2. UCL Alumni: £1,500
3. Public sector / charity/ not-for-profit organisations = £800

We will confirm that the course will run on or before the 28th August. Please do not make travel or accommodation arrangements until the course is confirmed. 

This course will appeal to:

• Lawyers in private practice
• In-house lawyers
• Lawyers in government service

Whether you are an experienced lawyer or approaching this field for the first time, the course explores key principles and issues animating the cutting edge of national security law.

• Practical expertise: Gain insights into the key areas in the development of contemporary national security law and practice.
• Policy insight: Stay informed about the latest legal developments and government policies.
• Professional growth: Build confidence and develop advanced skills in national security law and litigation
• Networking opportunities: Connect with senior practitioners and peers.

• Improved your capacity: Equip yourself and your team with tools to handle complex disputes and understand national security strategies.
• Strategic advantage: Position your organisation as a leader in national security law.
• Policy innovation: Gain insights into legal developments and government policy.
• Enhanced reputation: Demonstrate a commitment to progressive, effective, and consensual approaches in national security litigation.
• Continuing professional development. The course can contribute to continuing professional development requirements. 

Day One

• Overview 
  Rt. Hon. Sir Rabinder Singh, President of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal.
• Financial Sanctions After Schvidler: 
  Assessing the UK’s sanctions regime following the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court in the recent case of Schvidler v. Secretary of State ([2025] UKSC 30).
• The legal uses of intelligence:  
  Introducing the law governing the legal use of intelligence, including the background, legislation, key cases, and principles. A government official working in the field will offer commentary and practical experience.
• Interception, Bulk Data and AI: 
  Introducing the principles, legislation, and key cases governing the state’s powers to intercept, acquire, access and make use of private and confidential data obtained using intrusive means. This session will be followed by a panel discussion of key issues in the field with a Judicial Commissioner, responsible for oversight, and a senior Foreign Office official.

Day Two

• Foreign Interference and The National Security Act: 
  Introducing the key principles, tenets and cases arising from the National Security Act, assessing what it means for the exchange of information.
• Mergers, Acquisitions and the National Security Investment Act: 
  Introducing the key tenets at the intersection of financial investment and security, including recent developments in caselaw and practice.
• Perspectives on National Security law: 
  A panel discussion, with experts practicing in the US and Canadian legal systems, exploring and identifying trends, divergences, and foreign developments that might influence the direction of UK law.

Delegates will receive twelve hours of tuition. 

There will be no assessment but delegates will receive a certificate of completion.  

Tom Hickman KC
Tom Hickman is Professor of Public Law at UCL and a practising barrister at Blackstone Chambers. Tom has practiced in the field of national security law throughout his career. Since 2017 he has been standing counsel to the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office (IPCO). He has appeared in many leading national security cases (and many more non-leading cases), including MB v Home Secretary (control orders), A v B (IPT jurisdiction (SC)), AF (No 3) (control orders (SC)), Binyam Mohamed v Foreign Office (mistreatment (CA)), Omar Awadh Omar v SSFC (disclosure (DC)), Shamima Begum v SIAC (fairness (SC)), U3 v SSFCA (SIAC jurisdiction (SC)), R (Ammori) v SSHD(proscription (CA)). Tom regularly speaks at events and publishes on national security law issues. In January 2020, Tom was appointed by the German Federal Constitutional Court, in the landmark Federal Intelligence Agency (BND) Act case concerning overseas surveillance by the German foreign intelligence agency. He was the first person to give oral expert evidence to that court (1 BvR 2835/17).  Tom founded UCL Law’s national security law Master’s course in 2013 and continues to teach on the expanded course.

Professor Anil Kapoor
Anil Kapoor is a UCL Honorary Professor and an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. He is a barrister practicing in Toronto Canada who has served on the Canadian roster of Special Advocates since 2008. In 2010 he was appointed to serve on the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council on National Security Law. Mr. Kapoor has testified before the Senate of Canada Standing Committee on National Security and Defence and was on the Advocates Society’s Board from 2011 to 2014.

In 2006, Anil was appointed Commission Counsel to the Commission of Inquiry into the Investigation of the Bombing of Air India Flight 182 (the Air India Public Inquiry). He frequently appears before the Supreme Court of Canada and Courts of Appeal in various provinces, including British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Québec, and Newfoundland. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and the International Society of Barristers, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

Bernard Keenan 
Dr Bernard Keenan is a lecturer in the Faculty of Laws, UCL and previously a solicitor in practice. His research focuses on the regulation of digital technologies at the intersection of surveillance, national security, and human rights. He has published on the UK's legal oversight system after the Snowden revelations, the deployment of Automated Facial Recognition systems by police, state access to encrypted communications, and the regulation of social media and search engine content moderation systems under the rubric of online safety. His book, Interception: State Surveillance from Postal Systems to Global Networks, offers a theoretical and archival study of the history of the power to govern and intercept private communications in the UK. 

Dr Ewan Smith
Dr Ewan Smith is Associate Professor of Public Law at UCL Laws. Prior to that he was a Fellow of Christ Church, Oxford, a Junior Research Fellow at Jesus College, Oxford, and an Early Career Fellow at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights. 

Ewan researches, teaches and advises on national security and foreign relations law. He convenes UCL’s graduate course in National Security Law and the University of London’s graduate course in Sanctions. His work in national security law has been carried in journals including the Law Quarterly Review, the Modern Law Review and the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. He regularly acts as an expert witness in contentious proceedings and provides advice to the UK government and EU member states in matters involving national security, sanctions and strategic export control. 

Ewan read law at Oxford and Harvard Law School. In 2023 he was a Hauser Fellow at New York University Law School. In 2024 he was a Visiting Professor at the University of Bologna. In 2026 he will be a Visiting Professor at the National University of Singapore. Between 2005 and 2015, he worked for the UK Foreign Office.

Guest Speaker: Lord Justice Rabinder Singh
The Rt Hon Sir Rabinder Singh received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from UCL in 2024. He has unravelled expertise of national security law and was the President of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal between 2018 and October 2025. 

Sir Rabinder was called to the Bar in 1989 and practised from 1990 to 2011 with a focus on national security law. He was on the Attorney General’s Panels of Junior Counsel to the Crown from 1992 to 2002 and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2002. He became the youngest appointed Deputy High Court Judge and went on to become a High Court Judge in 2011. He was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal in October 2017. Sir Rabinder published The Unity of Law in 2022 and is the author of numerous articles in national security law.   

By the end of the course, participants will be able:

• To identify key areas in the development of contemporary national security law and practice.
• To understand the rules that courts use to settle disputes in this area, and how they relate to the authority of political decision-makers.
• To contextualise these legal developments in the reality of governmental practice and policy.
• To consider legal strategies, arguments and lines of development that remain untested in national security litigation.
• To develop insights that animate other areas of practice.