The twenty-third day of May marked the sixtieth anniversary of the coming into effect of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, the so-called Grundgesetz (“basic law”). The groundwork for the new constitution had been prepared about a year earlier by a group of experts meeting at a resplendent nineteenth-century castle on an island...

Christopher Michaelsen criticises the lack of accountability and scrutiny in the Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005. He argues that the 28 new anti-terrorism laws introduced since September 2001 have generally lacked effective judicial and parliamentary review mechanisms and that the new bill has the same shortcomings. He recommends the establishment of an independent monitoring body.