The Government’s odious Justice and Security Bill was forced through the House of Commons despite resistance from Labour, minority parties and brave Coalition rebels, who tried to reintroduce safeguards to ensure Secret Courts are the exception and not the norm.
Those amendments would have meant that Secret Courts would be invoked only where
a judge has balanced the public interest in full disclosure against the need for
secrecy – and only where it would be otherwise impossible for the case to
proceed.
Regrettably Labour’s safeguards were defeated when put to a vote as many
parliamentarians sided in favour of a piece of legislation which would overturn 400 proud years
of equality before the law in Britain – allowing for grave errors and abuses to
be hidden for good.
Despite the ultimate defeat, the high support for these amendments was surely
made possible thanks to the efforts of Liberty members, more than a thousand of whom
pressured their local MPs to defeat these illiberal and shaming proposals ahead
of yesterday’s showdown.
They joined the legal profession, the international community, the UN
Rapporteur on Torture, the Scottish Government and much of the
national press in rejecting this Bill and urging our politicians to follow
suit.
Despite last night’s vote, all is far from lost. The legislation will now head
back to the Lords, where it's hoped that Peers will again block it in its
current form – paving the way for an extended period of parliamentary
“ping-pong” between the two Houses.
Once again we’ll be looking to the House of Lords to defend the Rule of Law –
and our members and supporters can help by keeping the campaigning up and the pressure
on.
Meanwhile, this evening our Director will speak at the Constitutional and Administrative Law Bar Association (ALBA) seminar on the Justice and Security Bill – alongside minister without portfolio, Kenneth Clarke MP, who is leading on Secret Courts.
She will again be making it clear that this is a Bill rotten beyond redemption. Every day seems to bring fresh examples of how it would hide dirty State secrets – from women duped by undercover police to former Iraqi detainees alleging torture by UK officials.
The Prime Minister once said that “sunlight was the best disinfectant”. With opposition to morphing British courts into shadowy secret commissions continuing to mount, perhaps he should heed his own advice, dump these dangerous proposals and allow for abuses to continue to be properly exposed under the law.
