public interest immunity – Page 2

Time to untangle the debate over secret courts – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted September 25th, 2012 in bills, closed material, evidence, intelligence services, news, private hearings, public interest immunity by sally

“Tomorrow (25 September), Liberal Democrats will debate the Justice and Security Bill and will vote on saying no to the Government’s controversial secret courts proposals. Played in the press as a good opportunity to put clear blue water between the coalition partners, the motion will give a party members a chance to speak out on a Bill which many see as an anathema to the traditional liberal commitment to open, fair and equal access to justice.”

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UK Human Rights Blog, 24th September 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Lords “Reform”: The Justice and Security Bill – Angela Patrick – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted July 13th, 2012 in bills, closed material, criminal justice, intelligence services, news, public interest immunity by sally

“Last night saw the latest round of Lords debate on the Justice and Security Bill. It should be required reading for the Secretary of State. Peers from all benches challenged the Government’s case for the breadth of reform proposed in the Bill. A number of amendments have been tabled jointly in the names of members of the Joint Committee on Human Rights and the Lords Constitution Committee, both Committees having already castigated the Government’s proposals as potentially harmful to the common law principles of open, adversarial and equal justice.”

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UK Human Rights Blog, 12th July 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Secret court hearings: Q&A – Daily Telegraph

Posted April 5th, 2012 in closed material, evidence, news, private hearings, public interest immunity, rule of law by sally

“Ken Clarke wants to allow evidence to be heard in secret where it would compromise national security. Here we explain why there is such controversy over the Government’s plan to hold some court cases and inquests behind closed doors.”

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Daily Telegraph, 4th April 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Ken Clarke defends secret courts plans after Nick Clegg criticisms – The Guardian

Posted April 4th, 2012 in civil justice, closed material, disclosure, electronic mail, intelligence services, news, privacy, public interest immunity, telecommunications, terrorism by sally

“The justice secretary, Ken Clarke, has defended proposals to create a new generation of secret courts in the face of criticism from Nick Clegg and parliament’s human rights committee, saying the plans will make the system more accountable and more conducive to intelligence sharing with other countries.”

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The Guardian, 4th April 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Secret trials: ‘explore alternatives’ – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted April 4th, 2012 in civil justice, closed material, disclosure, human rights, media, news, public interest immunity, terrorism by sally

“Government proposals to extend the use of secret hearings in cases where evidence might compromise national security are a radical departure from the UK’s ‘traditions of open justice and fairness’, MPs and peers said today.”

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Law Society’s Gazette, 4th April 2012

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Secret justice: do we have a compromise? – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted April 4th, 2012 in civil justice, closed material, disclosure, human rights, media, news, public interest immunity, terrorism, terrorism prevention & investigation measures by sally

“The Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights has now responded to the Government’s consultation on the proposals set out in their Justice and Security Green Paper Cm 8194. The idea is to extend ‘closed material procedures’ so as to be available in all civil proceedings, i.e. not just in some highly restricted national security contexts such as deportation appeals before SIAC (the Special Immigration Appeals Commission), control orders, and their successor regime known as TPIMs.”

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UK Human Rights Blog, 4th April 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Damning verdict on ill-thought-out secret justice proposals – The Guardian

Posted April 4th, 2012 in civil justice, closed material, disclosure, human rights, inquests, media, news, public interest immunity by sally

“Parliament’s joint committee on human rights (JCHR) has produced a unanimous report on the government’s justice and security green paper that is as precise and persuasive as the green paper itself is unfocussed and unconvincing.”

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The Guardian, 4th April 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Journalists who break law to expose injustice ‘will not be prosecuted’ – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 9th, 2012 in inquiries, media, news, public interest immunity by sally

“Journalists who break the law could be spared trial if they acted in the public interest, under guidance to be produced by the Director of Public Prosecutions.”

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Daily Telegraph, 8th February 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Al Rawi and others v Security Service and others (Liberty and others intervening) – WLR Daily

Posted July 18th, 2011 in closed material, disclosure, evidence, law reports, public interest immunity by sally

Al Rawi and others v Security Service and others (Liberty and others intervening) [2011] UKSC 34; [2011] WLR (D) 228

“It was for Parliament, if it so decided, and not for the courts, to introduce a closed material procedure to replace the existing process developed by the common law for dealing with claims to public interest immunity in an ordinary civil claim for damages.”

WLR Daily, 13th July 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina v Twomey and others (No 2) – WLR Daily

Posted January 24th, 2011 in intimidation, juries, law reports, public interest immunity, trial without jury by sally

Regina v Twomey and others (No 2) [2011] EWCA Crim 8; [2011] WLR (D) 10

“The question whether a trial should proceed as a trial by judge and jury or trial by judge alone was concerned exclusively with the mode of trial, and the process of deciding whether the guilt of the defendant was established was entirely distinct from the question of how the tribunal responsible for making that decision was constituted.”

WLR Daily, 21st January 2011

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Spy murder case could be too sensitive for court – Daily Telegraph

Posted August 31st, 2010 in intelligence services, murder, news, private hearings, public interest immunity by sally

“The true explanation for the murder of Gareth Williams, the MI6 codebreaker found dead in a bath, may have to be kept secret even if his killer is found and put on trial, lawyers have warned.”

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Daily Telegraph, 31st August 2010

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

R (Mohamed) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Guardian News and Media Ltd and others intervening) – WLR Daily

Posted February 12th, 2010 in confidentiality, intelligence services, law reports, public interest immunity, torture by sally

R (Mohamed) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Guardian News and Media Ltd and others intervening) [2010] EWCA Civ 65; [2010] WLR (D) 31

“As a general principle, the principles of freedom of expression, democratic accountability and the rule of law were integral to the principle of open justice, so that, where litigation had occurred and judgment given, any disapplication of the open justice principle (which included the ordinary right of all the parties to the litigation to know the reasons for the court’s decision) had to be rigidly contained. It should be rare for the court to order that any part of the reasoning in its judgment which had lead it to its conclusion should be redacted, and any such order should be made only in extreme cases.”

WLR Daily, 11th February 2010

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Regina (Al-Sweady and Others) v Secretary of State for Defence – Times Law Reports

Posted August 3rd, 2009 in law reports, ministers' powers and duties, public interest immunity by sally

Regina (Al-Sweady and Others) v Secretary of State for Defence

Queen’s Bench Divisional Court

“The complete integrity of public interest immunity certificates and the schedules attached to them, signed by ministers of the Crown, was absolutely essential in all cases in which they were put forward. The courts had to be able to have complete confidence in them. Nothing less was acceptable.”

The Times, 3rd August 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

R (Al-Sweady and others) v Secretary of State for Defence – WLR Daily

Posted July 15th, 2009 in disclosure, human rights, Iraq, law reports, public interest immunity by sally

R (Al-Sweady and others) v Secretary of State for Defence [2009] EWHC 1687 (Admin); [2009] WLR (D) 238

WLR Daily, 14th July 2009

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Ex-detective backs miscarriage of justice claim – The Guardian

Posted May 6th, 2009 in miscarriage of justice, murder, news, public interest immunity by sally

“A former detective now working as a private investigator says that a file seized from him by police last year could hold key information about an alleged miscarriage of justice. His claim is the latest concern to be raised in the case, which involved another officer since convicted of corruption.”

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The Guardian, 5th May 2009

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

R (Binyan Mohamed) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (2) – WLR Daily

Posted September 4th, 2008 in disclosure, law reports, public interest immunity, terrorism, torture by sally

R (Binyan Mohamed) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (2) [2008] EWHC 2100 (Admin); [2008] WLR (D) 300

“In performing the necessary balancing exercise in relation to public interest immunity and the exercise of the court’s discretion to order disclosure, it was incumbent on the court to have regard to the absence of a relevant consideration in the PII certificate and schedule, namely, in the light of the allegations made by the claimant, the abhorrence and condemnation accorded to torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, an issue which the court considered was not addressed either expressly or implicitly.”

WLR Daily, 2nd September 2008

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk

Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Judges back Lockerbie evidence suppression – The Guardian

Posted March 7th, 2008 in disclosure, murder, news, public interest immunity by sally

“A legal battle to release a secret intelligence report which could free the Libyan man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing is to continue after judges ruled the foreign secretary had the right to suppress the document.”

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The Guardian, 7th March 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Miliband blocks release of key Lockerbie files – The Guardian

Posted February 21st, 2008 in disclosure, murder, news, public interest immunity by sally

“The foreign secretary has been accused of interfering in the appeal of the man jailed for the Lockerbie bombing, after he refused to release secret papers which could clear the Libyan.”

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The Guardian, 21st February 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The extraordinary case of Britain’s most secret murder trial – The Independent

Posted January 28th, 2008 in murder, news, public interest immunity, reporting restrictions by sally

“A court hearing tomorrow, being described by lawyers as unprecedented in UK legal history, will decide whether the death of the man who took the last photograph of George Bernard Shaw must remain a mystery.”

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The Independent, 27th January 2008

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Judge agrees to hold murder trial in secret – The Guardian

Posted January 16th, 2008 in murder, public interest immunity, reporting restrictions, witnesses by sally

“Much of a murder trial will be held in secret for reasons of ‘national security’, an Old Bailey judge ruled yesterday.”

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The Guardian, 16th January 2008

Source: www.guardian.co.uk