As readers of this blog will be aware, the Government proposes in the Green Paper to introduce “closed material procedures” into civil proceedings. For an explanation of why this amounts to “a departure from the foundational principle of natural justice“, look no further than the Special Advocates’ response to the consultation and my co-editor Angus McCullough QC’s post, A Special Advocate’s comment. But although the proposals have been getting lawyers and The Guardian hot and bothered, the sound of tumbleweed has been the loudest response. Until now, that is.
Yesterday’s Daily Mail’s editorial This chilling threat to liberty and justice, railed against the “deeply disturbing proposals, slipped out with little public comment” by which “the Coalition plans a radical extension of the secret justice introduced by Labour to deal with foreign terrorist suspects“. And although the newspaper is “sickened by huge payouts made to terrorist suspects, to avoid sensitive security evidence being aired in open court”, the Government’s main justification for the changes, it pulls no punches on the proposals:
Secret charges, secret evidence, secret judgments. Isn’t this the sort of ‘justice’ associated with totalitarian regimes through the ages?
One of the remarkable aspects of the debate so far is how many lawyers have spoken out against the proposals – include the Special Advocates who will be called upon to make them work – in contrast to the almost universal silence from politicians. This is probably because of fear of being seen as soft on terrorism and supportive of the “hated” Human Rights Act. But, interestingly, the Mail also reports that “ministers privately describe Mr Clarke’s proposals as a ‘very green paper’ – suggesting that they may think again.”
Now that the newspaper which hosts the world’s most popular online newspaper site is campaigning against the Green Paper, it seems likely that more politicians will put their heads over the parapet. Indeed, today the Telegraph reported just that. Apparently, the Government is facing a revolt and “senior figures from all parties have condemned the move”.
At Justice Wide Open , the audience of academics, journalists and lawyers spoke passionately about problems within the court system which make trials hard to access, report or even find out about. I expect that the senior judiciary would be pretty shocked if they heard of some of the difficulties journalists and the public have accessing hearings. But most of the problems identified could be solved by clear thinking and a little money.
By contrast, if they are implemented the proposals in the Justice and Security Green Paper will create a new and, as many have argued, unjustified structural barrier to open justice, not just for those “participating” in closed hearings, but also, as the press are now beginning to realise, to the public and media too. In other words, justice wide shut.
The Mail “alongside other lovers of civil liberty” will now be “campaigning vigorously” for the Government to change its track on the issue. Civil liberties, human rights: you say potato, I say potato. Things are finally getting interesting, it’s just a shame that politicians have had to wait for the go-ahead from the Daily Mail to speak out.
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- Sound of tumbleweed greets secret civil trials proposals
- More secret trials? No thanks
- Extension of secret hearings would be “fundamentally unfair”, say Special Advocates
- Should more trials be held in secret? Part 2: A Special Advocate’s comment
