In the UK the Human Rights Act protects everybody – old and young; rich and poor; you and me. Regrettably, some sections of the press don’t seem to like that very much. Worse still, they ignore important facts to mislead us and attack our proud human rights framework. Such spin is perhaps predictable. Article 8 of the HRA and European Convention on Human Rights, after all, protects our right to a private and family life...
read moreCalling all bloggers and all budding bloggers! Did you know that Wednesday 16th October is Blog Action Day? Founded in 2007, this global initiative is a free, annual event and the aim is to unite people across the globe via social media. The event brings together bloggers from different countries, interests and languages by encouraging them to start a conversation about one important global topic on the same day...
read moreChristine Jackson, the Chair of the Civil Liberties Trust and my dear friend, passed away peacefully on Friday, 11th October, after battling cancer for many years. She was 71...
read moreToday Malala Yousafzai was awarded the 2013 Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought - an annual European Union prize for those who fight for human rights. Malala, 16, moved to Birmingham after being shot in the head by the Taliban for campaigning for girls' rights to education in Pakistan....
read moreHere Ava Harris, a 10-year-old Liberty supporter who raised money for us with a sponsored silence, explains why she chose to do this and what it was like...
read moreThe Home Secretary’s unveiling of a stop and search review back in July was more than welcome. As was her acceptance that existing stop-to-arrest ratios are “far too low for comfort”. For too long now, overbroad powers and their inappropriate use have undermined the delicate relationship between the police and communities...
read moreWe’re lucky to live in the world’s oldest unbroken democracy – a land where notions of dignity and fairness are generally treasured. But our justice system isn’t perfect. No justice system is. That’s why appeal rights are so essential...
read moreOn a Sunday which began with the Prime Minister muting possible withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights on Marr’s sofa, thankfully there was much to cheer at Liberty’s Conservative Party conference Fringe...
read moreThis weekend longtime Liberty friend the Reverend Nicholas Mercer and his parish will begin fasting for a week, to draw attention to those unlawfully rendered by the UK and those who’ve suffered torture...
read moreThe packed panel at Liberty’s Labour conference fringe last night drew in the crowds, eager to hear reflections from leading journalists, politicians and campaigners on the state of the liberal left...
read moreOn a grey and uninviting Monday evening in Glasgow a throng of delegates braved the driving rain to join our Director, Shami, and five prominent political thinkers to discuss the state of our liberties at the 2013 Liberty Lib Dem fringe. Earlier that day, the comments of Home Office Minister Jeremy Browne ignited the debate on the place of the veil in British society. Fittingly the topic was the first put to...
read moreFor those who welcomed last week’s concessions on criminal legal aid, the Lord Chancellor’s offensive on Judicial Review the following day was a bitter blow for British justice. Judicial Review is the ultimate protection for ordinary people against arbitrary power; holding government to certain standards of rationality and lawfulness and demanding respect for individual rights. Now the Ministry of Justice seems determined to crush challenges before they have even begun and undermine this bulwark against state abuse...
read moreThe impact of cuts to access to justice was the hot topic at Liberty’s “Justice Denied” Fringe Event at the TUC Conference in Bournemouth this afternoon. Nothing was off the table – from changing the rules on unfair dismissal to closing the doors of the Employment Tribunal; from placing civil justice beyond the means of many to preventing us from holding the powerful to account by moving the goalposts on Judicial Review...
read moreIs there someone that you think deserves special recognition for their work on behalf of human rights issues? If so, Liberty would like to hear from you....
read moreFor many months now – ever since the Ministry of Justice first embarked upon its misconceived crusade to cut legal aid and decimate access to justice in this country – we and others have been urging Chris Grayling to think again. Digesting the Lord Chancellor’s statement in the House of Commons this morning, it seems he may have listened...
read moreEffective fair trial protections are a cornerstone of a just society which values dignity and fairness. When people face criminal prosecution they risk loss of reputation, livelihood and often liberty upon their conviction. With so much at stake, fair trial safeguards are non-negotiable. Without them innocent people are convicted, the Rule of Law suffers and public faith in our justice system breaks down...
read moreJuliet Wheldon (the former Chief Government Lawyer who passed away on 2nd September) was one of my dearest friends and greatest teachers. I learned so very much about law, life, government and human rights from this extraordinary woman who served governments of both persuasions without fear or favour with courage and wisdom for so many years and all her professional life...
read moreIf you’ve been the victim of a human rights abuse – if you’ve been imprisoned without trial or had your private life violated – you probably don’t need convincing that our freedoms should be formally protected by law. But here in the oldest unbroken democracy in the world, where many of us have the luxury of treating human rights as abstract ideals, we can sometimes forget that they were born from all-too-real suffering and injustice...
read moreFifty years ago today Dr Martin Luther King laid out his vision for a better future in front of hundreds of thousands of civil rights demonstrators. His ‘I have a dream’ speech still stands as one of the greatest ever calls for freedom and justice and his message remains strikingly relevant...
read moreOn Tuesday the Liberty Van hit the streets of London. It was our response to the nasty Home Office “Go Home” vans that were sowing division across London a few weeks ago. Our van started the day by circling the Home Office, offering them a taste of their own medicine. Driving a National Front-style slogan...
read moreIt’s hard to know where to begin a response to the latest round of Home Office boasts about its offensive, ill-conceived and likely downright illegal innovations in immigration control...
read moreBarely twelve months ago, the nation was embracing the Olympic Games and Team GB’s success. We cheered as British competitors including Bradley Wiggins, Mo Farah, a Somali refugee, and Jessica Ennis, the daughter of a Jamaican immigrant, struck Gold; as proud of our diversity as we were of our sporting success. What a difference a year makes...
read more“It is the charter of the little man to the British courts of justice. It is a Bill which will open the doors of the courts freely to all persons who may wish to avail themselves of British justice without regard to the question of their wealth or ability to pay.” So said former Attorney General Sir Hartley Shawcross, introducing...
read moreAnother month, another life torn apart by our rotten extradition rules. Earlier this month the Home Secretary ordered the extradition of former soldier David McIntyre to the US, despite his alleged post-traumatic stress disorder. There has been much rhetoric from politicians of all stripes on the need for extradition reform...
read moreIn 1993 Stephen Lawrence was murdered by racists. What followed was a staggeringly incompetent police investigation. Now, twenty years on, we learn that not only were the Lawrence family tragic victims of crime and appalling policing, but they were also spied on by the very police force that was meant to be finding his killers...
read moreThe right to marry the person you love, regardless of your sexuality was made a reality by Parliament last night. In a historic step forward for freedom and fairness, the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill cleared the Lords unopposed on Monday and was passed by MPs yesterday, paving the way for it to become law... ...
read moreMalala Yousafzai is an inspirational activist for girls’ education. She has been standing up for girls’ right to education in Pakistan since she was 11 years old, often putting her own life at risk. Then on 9th November 2012...
read moreBringing up our children to be morally engaged adults is surely one of our most important responsibilities. What they learn from us they’ll live out in society for decades to come – and what we fail to pass on may be lost for just as long.
read moreLast Friday the Government received a well-deserved drubbing in the High Court on the issue of its immigration policy.
read moreRacist jokes on their mobiles. A ludicrous account that Jimmy Mubenga somehow forced his own head between his knees, causing his own asphyxia. Unforgivable indifference to the dying cries of a man who, according to one witness, called for help around 50 times as he slowly suffocated.
read moreBy now you’ve no doubt heard the shocking revelations that the US and UK governments have been monitoring our emails and phone calls. Edward Snowden, a former technical contractor for the NSA and CIA, released classified documents exposing the NSA’s and GCHQ’s involvement in mass-surveillance programmes that apparently analyse and track global phone calls and store huge amounts of internet data under secret operations codenamed PRISM and Tempora.
read moreIn 2011, more than 100,000 people were stopped and searched in Britain under counter-terrorism laws. How many were arrested for terrorism-related offences? None. Not one. As statistics go, that’s pretty damning. Overbroad stop and search powers have proven not just blunt and ineffective, but discriminatory. Lax and ill-targeted powers under section 44 of the Terrorism Act have now been significantly tightened, but there are still powers on the statute book allowing police to stop and search people without any suspicion. Under the now notorious section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, you’re far more likely to be stopped if you’re Black or Asian than if you’re White. Inevitably, such measures have seriously undermined community confidence in policing.
read moreLast week Edward Snowden, a former technical contractor for the NSA and CIA, released classified documents concerning the NSA’s and GCHQ’s involvement in mass-surveillance programmes that apparently analyse and monitor global phone calls and store huge amounts of internet data, as part of secret operations code-named PRISM and Tempora.
read moreWhen they should have been arresting suspects, seizing bloody clothes and looking for a knife, it turns out the Met Police's priority was to send in Special Demonstration Squad officers to infiltrate supporters of Stephen Lawrence’s family. Even the Lawrences’ Family Liaison Officer was told to record and report back to HQ with the names of every person that visited this devastated, grieving family. “It makes me really, really angry that all of this has been going on all the time, trying to undermine us as a family,” Doreen Lawrence told Channel 4’s Dispatches programme last night. “Out of all the things I’ve found out over the years, this certainly has topped it”.
read more“If it hurts families, if it undermines commitment, if it tramples over the values that keep people together, or stops families from being together, then we shouldn't do it.”
read more"I really want the focus to be on these documents and the debate which I hope this will trigger among citizens around the globe about what kind of world we want to live in. My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them. They are intent on making every conversation and every form of behaviour in the world known to them. I don't see myself as a hero, because what I'm doing is self-interested: I don't want to live in a world where there's no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity. What they're doing poses an existential threat to democracy".
read moreA quick look across the Atlantic this week serves as a timely reminder that securocrat ambition for mass surveillance knows no bounds.
read moreLast night, Liberty joined hundreds of demonstrators to condemn cuts to legal aid. The protest took place outside the Ministry of Justice, provoked by devastating attacks on our legal system which are coming thick and fast. The atmosphere was brilliant as I joined speakers from a host of other legal organisations and campaign groups in sharing Liberty’s concerns about the misguided reforms with the crowd.
read moreThe opportunistic response to the shocking murder of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich continues apace as yet more politicians take to the papers and airwaves to demand the revival of the dreaded Draft Communications Data Bill. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond and others have today spoken of their support for the “Snoopers’ Charter”, which Home Secretary Theresa May suggests she may try to resurrect after last week’s horror. Murmurings from senior Labour figures hint that they might back a scaled-down version of the Bill.
The shocking violence we saw yesterday in Woolwich fills us with horror. Our thoughts are with the loved ones of Drummer Lee Rigby who lost his life in this brutal attack.
read moreOn Tuesday night the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill was passed by the House of Commons, after an eventful few days of debate.
The Liberty Members’ Conference and AGM took place on Saturday and by all accounts it was one of our best ever! Joined by our members and special guests, the day of discussions ranged from saving the Human Rights Act to safeguarding free speech online.
read moreTomorrow is Liberty’s Members’ Conference and AGM and we're looking forward to a day of inspiring talks and lively debate.
read moreAs Parliament takes one step closer to granting gay couples the right to marry next week it would be easy to assume discrimination on the basis of sexuality is a thing of the past.
read moreAnother week, another set of proposed “reforms”. The sweeping attacks on our proud, centuries-old system of open justice and fair trials just keep on coming. First civil legal aid. Then Secret Courts and changes to Judicial Review. Now criminal legal aid has fallen firmly within the Government’s cost-cutting crosshairs.
read moreIt’s easy to dismiss the “War on Terror” and all of its excesses as “old news”. Nearly 12 years after the horrors of 9/11, battles over everything from pre-charge detention to ID cards have come and gone. But the statute book is still littered with disproportionate, overzealous police powers which remain ripe for abuse.
read moreAs the old adage goes, “never let the truth get in the way of a good story”. Regrettably it’s a mantra closely followed by certain parts of the press when it comes to human rights. Relevant facts and legal nuances are conveniently omitted to fuel angry tirades against the European Convention or Human Rights Act on a regular basis. Remember “Catgate”? Such skewed attacks on proud principles of dignity, equal treatment and fairness are predictable. But the simultaneous reluctance to champion human rights when they protect ordinary people is particularly galling.
read moreTalk of modern day slavery can seem anachronistic – surely this is something that happened long ago and far away – but across the country, vulnerable people still suffer appalling abuse from “employers” they cannot escape. Liberty is acting for one such victim, a woman who not only endured years of physical and verbal abuse and repeated rape, but who was ignored on several occasions by the authorities she sought help from.
read moreOnly yesterday we were waxing lyrical about whispers that the Snoopers’ Charter – AKA the Draft Communications Data Bill – was floundering. Today it appears the legislation may have sunk for good. All signs seem to point to Nick Clegg having vetoed the proposals, with reports suggesting the Deputy Prime Minister has told David Cameron and Theresa May they ar