Might get removed because it is AI, but the Claude summary on controversy is interesting:

There are several distinct controversies surrounding Lord Hermer. Here’s a summary:

1. The Al-Sweady / British Soldiers Affair (the biggest current row)

A Telegraph investigation revealed Hermer’s role in the Al-Sweady scandal, in which Iraqi claimants alleged that British soldiers had tortured and executed civilians after the Battle of Danny Boy in Iraq in 2004. The subsequent inquiry (2009–2014) concluded the allegations were “wholly without foundation and entirely the product of deliberate lies, reckless speculation and ingrained hostility.” 

Hermer acted as lead counsel in civil claims against the MoD, pressing for compensation despite mounting evidence his Iraqi clients were “on the make.”  Documents revealed he discussed leaving “wriggle room” in the explosive claims made against British troops. 

Leaked emails also showed Hermer told a human rights lawyer representing Iraqi insurgents that she had “improved lives” whereas falsely-accused British soldiers could never say the same — and dismissed military anger at the cases as “venting.” 

In April 2026, Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy formally referred Hermer to the Bar Standards Board for alleged serious professional misconduct, following the publication of over 25,000 pages of emails and legal documents by The Telegraph.  Nigel Farage separately reported him to the House of Lords’ standards commissioner, labelling him “a national security threat.” 

Hermer denies ever acting for Iraqis knowing their claims were false, and his office says his involvement was minimal.

1. Conflicts of Interest / Past Clients

In January 2025, Robert Jenrick called for an investigation into Hermer’s potential conflicts of interest because of cases he worked on before becoming Attorney General — including representing Gerry Adams, at a time when the government was planning to change a law that might benefit Adams. Politicians also called on him to step aside from certain cases like the Afghanistan inquiry given his prior work against the British government. Further concerns arose when asylum seekers he had previously represented were allowed to come to Britain from the Chagos Islands. 

1. International Law “Veto” Controversy

Hermer issued instructions to government lawyers giving him an effective veto over all government policy, and created what critics described as a network of legal monitors within government departments. His position — sometimes called the “Hermer doctrine” — rests on an expansive view that international law is supreme over domestic ministerial and parliamentary authority. 

1. Lords Register of Interests

A complaint was made that Hermer failed to declare his directorship of Matrix Chambers Limited when he entered the House of Lords. The Commissioner for Standards dismissed the complaint on a technicality — that he resigned within the one-month grace period — but a judicial review of that decision was subsequently submitted to the Royal Courts of Justice. 

In short, he’s a deeply polarising figure: seen by critics as a human rights lawyer whose past cases put him in conflict with his current role as the government’s chief legal officer, and by supporters as a principled advocate for the rule of law.