Richard Hermer, Baron Hermer

During his tenure, the government removed its opposition to the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, and also oversaw the prosecution of individuals who were involved in the 2024 riots.

[22] He acted for four Kenyans who claimed they were tortured by colonial officials and soldiers, and Justice Richard McCombe ruled in July 2011 that they had the right to sue the British government for compensation.

[23] Three of the victims launched a second attempt in July 2012 to sue the British government following the discovery of Foreign Office files that documented the torture and murder of detainees by colonial officials.

[34] Elsheikh was part of the jihadist group dubbed the "ISIS Beatles", who carried out the beheadings of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning.

"[43] He also submitted that "once in ISIS territory, girls and women faced coercive and exploitative conditions" which Hermer described as a "complex issue" which he said could not be "effectively explored" unless the "potential victim" was "able to meaningfully participate by providing evidence in her appeal.

[46] On 23 June, he told the court that there were "systematic failures either to stop devastating oil spills or remedy their profound impact", and also said that the damage to the mangrove fields covered 13,000 hectares which was more than twice the area of Manhattan.

[51] Zubaydah alleged that between 2002 and 2006 he was unlawfully rendered by agents of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, Lithuania, Morocco, Poland and Thailand (the six countries), where he was arbitrarily detained and subjected to extreme mistreatment and torture.

[13] He outlined the detail of the settlement to judge, Barbara Fontaine, at a High Court hearing in London where he said that around £50,000,000 would be allocated to a "restorative justice project", and also said that the defendants had agreed to fund an event titled "testimony week".

The asylum seekers said that they had previously hoped to find sanctuary in Canada, but were left stranded in the waters around the British Indian Ocean territory before the they tried to seek refuge in Britain.

The five asylum seekers were part of a group of dozens who washed up at the Diego Garcia base, and hoped to come to Britain, but the action was dismissed by the High Court.

[76] He said that after studies indicated that the pollution level was soaring, the council took seven years to make the first strategic needs assessment; going on to describe it as a "glacial pace in the context of a public health emergency.

[82][83] On 9 October 2023, in his opening statement on behalf of the families, he said that he would seek to find evidence "capable of suggesting" that the SAS were "applying a practice of unlawfully killing Afghan civilians"; later saying that this meant they were "conducting a campaign of murder" which he said was a "war crime amounting to grave breaches of the Geneva convention.

"[86][87] Following evidence that the SAS deleted data from its computers which was in breach of promises it had made to the Royal Military Police, Hermer said that it was at best "highly suspicious", and at worst a "patent and criminal attempt to pervert the course of justice.

In the speech, Hermer confirmed that the government would continue to abide by and unequivocally support the European Convention on Human Rights, and said that walking away total abdication of international law responsibilities.

[118] Hermer later provided his consent to charge several people for what was described as "stirring up racial hatred online", amidst the first sentencing[119] of two individuals for social media-related posts during the riots.

[121] He noted that there had been over 1100 arrests and 600 charged, and went on to say that he would not pretend that they did not "inherit a criminal justice system with some significant problems", but expressed his confidence in the Crown Prosecution Service, the police and judiciary's ability to "cope with the task" that they were presented.

[122] He additionally said that people could not "hide behind a keyboard" and said that the authorities would prosecute those who incited "racial and religious hatred online", and commented that anybody who had committed "a serious offence" would "find themselves in a cell.

[135][136] In his visit, he confirmed that the United Kingdom would not be pursuing the previous Conservative government's objections to the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for both Gallant and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

[137] In August, Hermer intervened in the Foreign Office review over whether the government should ban arms sales to Israel,[138] during a reported difficulty for officials to distinguish between "offensive" and "defensive" weapons.

[143] In October, Hermer confirmed in an interview with The Financial Times that the government would "comply" with their "lawful obligations" regarding any potential arrest warrant for Netanyahu from the International Criminal Court.

[151][152][153] After this, an open letter was then addressed to Hermer, which called for an "urgent" meeting between him, Labour donor Dale Vince and broadcaster Chris Packham to discuss what they described as the "jailing of truth tellers and their silencing in court.

"[154] The letter received signatures from over a thousand from public figures including former Labour leader MP Jeremy Corbyn,[155] former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams,[156] and musician Chris Martin.

"[170] Further conflict of interest allegations emerged on 18 January, following the revelation that asylum seekers that Hermer previously represented were granted a "one-off" deal to come to the Britain from the Chagos Islands.

[177] In response to an urgent question in the House of Lords on 27 January, Hermer said that it was "vital" that the public were reassured that the "highest standards of propriety were applied" and said that his department would "always err on the side of caution" whenever there was a "reasonable doubt" over whether a law officer should be recused.

[179][180] Amidst the conflicts of interest controversy, on 26 January, further criticism of Hermer occurred following revelations that he had not disclosed any earnings since he joined the government in July 2024.

[4] In a podcast looking at the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, Hermer said he had represented Caribbean nations on a case regarding potential reparations, and said that there was a "moral argument" for Britain to pay.

[203] He went on to say that "for a very long time" Israel has had "effective control" over the borders of Gaza, which he said was reliant on the "need to have electricity, water and food coming in"; and that the "cutting of that off" was "very, very difficult to reconcile with obligations of international law" and described that as a "deliberate understatement" from him.

[9] He described the debate around immigration and asylum in the country as "toxic", and also said that Mountfield, Hunt and he were "acutely conscious" that slogans such as "stop the boats" and "control our borders" were capable of being not only "distracting", but also "dehumanising".

"[34] Hermer has described U.S. President Donald Trump as "such a coward" and an "autocratic populist", and also called him an "orange tyrant", as well as accusing him of running a government of "chaos and hatred".

He stated that populism has been seen, in its "most pernicious forms", working to "demonise other groups – usually minorities and to discredit the legal frameworks and institutions that guarantee their rights, and dismantle, often through calculated misinformation, the political consensus that underpins them."

Communities Secretary Michael Gove (pictured) said that Hermer had a "record of political commitments" on the topic
Hermer's official cabinet portrait, 5 July 2024
Hermer (right) at his swearing in as Attorney General, alongside Sarah Sackman as Solicitor General and Shabana Mahmood as Lord High Chancellor on 15 July 2024
Hermer (left) and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (right) were at the centre of the controversy
Hermer (left) with Louise Haigh , Ed Miliband and King Charles III (front centre) at Remembrance Sunday in 2024.
Hermer's previous representation of Gerry Adams (pictured) started the controversy.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick (pictured) called for an investigation into Hermer.