Bye Bye Abu Qatada, Secret Trials Are Here & A Legal Aid U-Turn – The Human Rights Roundup

7 July 2013 by

Human rights roundup (Abu Q)Welcome back to the UK Human Rights Roundup, your regular Wimbledon Tennis Championship of human rights news and views. The full list of links can be found here. You can also find our table of human rights cases here and previous roundups here. Links compiled by Adam Wagner, post by Sarina Kidd.

This week, Chris Grayling made a concession, the closed material procedure for evidence in civil trials came into effect, and to Theresa May’s delight, Abu Qatada finally left the country.

Legal Aid Concession

Chris Grayling has announced that plans to deprive defendants of the opportunity to choose a solicitor are to be abandoned. The u-turn from the Lord Chancellor may be the result of the overwhelming opposition the legal aid reforms have had from the legal profession; or it may have been a proposal which was always intended to be dropped anyway. We will never know. Whilst this will not affect the scale of cuts, it does at least allow for such a traditional element of criminal trials to be preserved.  Whilst a significant victory, however, Maura McGowan QC points out that many contentious issues remain such as price competitive tendering which, ‘in any form is not a suitable mechanism for allocating legal aid contracts’.

Meanwhile, Obiter J details recent developments on the Justice Committee hearing that occurred on the 3rd July and see the Angela Patrick on UKHRB here.

Closed Material strikes again

Also this week, the closed material procedure for evidence in civil trials has come into effect. Such a move, the Free Movement blog argues ‘violates one of the basic tenets of fair trial and breaks down the constitutional barrier between the executive branch and the judicial’ and therefore challenges the rule of law. The recent case of Bank Mellat v Her Majesty’s Treasury (No.1) (see David Hart QC’s post here is also examined, in which Lord Neuberger noted that the secret material was irrelevant to the event, meaning that the Supreme Court was forced ‘into setting a novel and dangerous precedent simply for the sake of it’. A striking quotation advising Henry Kissinger is also included, which describes how those with security clearances will quickly stop listening to those without.

Abu Qatada away

Meanwhile, Abu Qatada has finally been deported to Jordan where he has been charged with terror offences. Theresa May states that she intends to remove the ‘many layers of appeals available to foreign nationals we want to deport’ which will manifest, for example, in the new Immigration Bill and that ‘nothing is off the table’ with regard to Britain’s relationship with the ECHR. Look out for Adam Wagner’s opinion piece in tomorrow’s (Monday’s) The Times.

Bad Journalism and Freedom of Expression

The Sun has been reprimanded for misreporting European human rights. The European Commission complained to the Press Complaints Commission and it was determined that there was a ‘clear failure to take appropriate care over the accuracy of the coverage’. Adam Wagner notes that whilst newspapers should be allowed to express views on human rights, they should not exploit misrepresentation and inaccuracy when doing so.

On another note, the Kennedy litigation later this year will allow the Supreme Court to address the question of freedom of expression. It will mainly look at whether the right of freedom of expression conferred by Article 10 of the ECHR has a bearing on the Freedom of Information Act 2010.

Immigration and Asylum

The High Court has determined that UK spouse immigration rules are not unlawful but are ‘onerous…and unjustified’ (1COR’s Neil Sheldon appeared for the Secretary of State). Under new rules only British citizens or those with refugee status who earn at least £18,000 a year can sponsor their non-European spouse’s visa. This increases to £22,400 for families with a child, and goes up £2,400 with each further child. Such a rule, it has been argued, means that many British people have been kept apart from partners, children and elderly relatives.

In the court, Mr. Justice Blake said that whilst it would not be appropriate to ‘strike down’ the financial requirements, the earning threshold was disproportionate if combined with one of the four other requirements. However, it was for Theresa May, the secretary of state, to make adjustments to the rule.

On the topic of asylum, the Free Movement blog draws on the work of Professor Anthony Good, a social anthropologist at the University of Edinburgh, who looks at why asylum seekers are often disbelieved. The blog looks at why the Home Office often rejects asylum claims from Sri Lanka despite the applicants being at great risk, noting, for example, that there is a tendency to dismiss torture claims and disregard physical scarring by implying that it may have been self-inflicted. S.8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 is also examined, which lists the kind of behaviour that can damage an applicants’ credibility. The post concludes that, ‘dependent on the way in which they managed to flee, those who seek asylum, inherently vulnerable people, are faced with incredulity. The guidance is flawed, the consequence are horrible to contemplate’.

 Also in the news

  • One Crown Office Row has a vacancy for a one third six pupil. The deadline is 5pm on Tuesday, 9 July. For more details, click here.
  • The Court of Appeal determined this week that a landowner’s right to recover possession of his property does not infringe the human rights of squatter.
  • An orthodox Jew has won a landmark appeal against the Department for Work and Pensions after he was denied jobseeker’s allowance for over 6 months and told he must work on Shabbat. Jason Coppel QC notes that this will have implications for the government’s new universal credit, and could affect people of all faiths.
  • The Public Law project has provided some advice sheets and guides to give an introduction to public law subjects, for those not acquainted with legal jargon.
  • A speech made Sadiq Khan, the shadow Justice Secretary, titled ‘Defending Rights, Delivering Political Reform’ can be seen here.
  • The House of Lords has established a Select Committee on the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The terms of reference of the inquiry ask the Committee to ‘consider and report on the Mental Capacity Act 2005’. The Committee will explore the following key issues in detail and would welcome your views on any or all of the following questions. See here for more details.
  • The executive summary of the Azelle Rodney Inquiry Report is available here.

Case Comments

  • Maurice Sheridan looks at two cases before the Supreme Court, that of McGeoch v Lord President of the Council 2011 and Chester v Lord President of the Council 2010. The appeals concern the extent to which UK policy on the non grant of voting rights to serving prisoners is affected not just by the ECHR but also by EU law, and the right/duty of the UK courts to grant declarations of rights, especially under EU law.
  • Kirsten Sjovoll analyses the Court of Appeal judgment in AAA v Associated Newspapers in which it was determined that a child did not have her Article 8 rights breached by the Daily Mail, in which it was speculated that her father was Boris Johnson.
  • The European Courts blog looks over recent ECHR case law, including cases on prison overcrowding, disappearances and taxes.

 In the Courts

Upcoming Events

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UKHRB posts 

1 comment;


  1. Andrew says:

    A few weeks ago I predicted on another site that when we got rid of Abu-Qatada David Cameron would have a long white beard and so would Theresa May.

    I was delighted to be proved wrong at least as to the first point – Mr Cameron was at Wimbledon this afternoon and remains clean-shaven. As to Ms May, well, I haven’t seen her on the goggle-box since Mr A-Q became Jordan’s headache – but I have to assume that I was mistaken about her too!

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Aarhus Abortion Abu Qatada Abuse Access to justice adoption ALBA Allison Bailey Al Qaeda animal rights anonymity Appeals Article 1 Protocol 1 Article 2 article 3 Article 4 article 5 Article 6 Article 7 Article 8 Article 9 article 10 Article 11 article 13 Article 14 Artificial Intelligence Asbestos assisted suicide asylum Australia autism benefits Bill of Rights biotechnology blogging Bloody Sunday brexit Bribery Catholicism Chagos Islanders Children children's rights China christianity citizenship civil liberties campaigners climate change clinical negligence Coercion common law confidentiality consent conservation constitution contempt of court Control orders Copyright coronavirus Coroners costs court of appeal Court of Protection covid crime Cybersecurity Damages Dartmoor data protection death penalty defamation deportation deprivation of liberty Detention diplomatic immunity disability disclosure Discrimination disease divorce DNA domestic violence duty of candour duty of care ECHR ECtHR Education election Employment Employment Law Employment Tribunal enforcement Environment Equality Act Ethiopia EU EU Charter of Fundamental Rights EU costs EU law European Court of Justice evidence extradition extraordinary rendition Family Fertility FGM Finance football foreign criminals foreign office France freedom of assembly Freedom of Expression freedom of information freedom of speech Gay marriage Gaza gender genetics Germany gmc Google Grenfell Health high court HIV home office Housing HRLA human rights Human Rights Act human rights news Huntington's Disease immigration India Indonesia injunction Inquests international law internet Inuit Iran Iraq Ireland Islam Israel Italy IVF Jalla v Shell Japan Japanese Knotweed Judaism judicial review jury trial JUSTICE Justice and Security Bill Land Reform Law Pod UK legal aid legality Leveson Inquiry LGBTQ Rights liability Libel Liberty Libya Lithuania local authorities marriage Maya Forstater mental capacity Mental Health military Ministry of Justice modern slavery monitoring music Muslim nationality national security NHS Northern Ireland nuclear challenges nuisance Obituary ouster clauses parental rights parliamentary expenses scandal Parole patents Pensions Personal Injury Piracy Plagiarism planning Poland Police Politics pollution press Prisoners Prisons privacy Private Property Professional Discipline Property proportionality Protection of Freedoms Bill Protest Public/Private public access public authorities public inquiries public law Regulatory Proceedings rehabilitation Reith Lectures Religion RightsInfo Right to assembly right to die right to family life Right to Privacy Right to Roam right to swim riots Roma Romania Round Up Royals Russia Saudi Arabia Scotland secrecy secret justice sexual offence sexual orientation Sikhism Smoking social media Social Work South Africa Spain special advocates Sports Standing statelessness Statutory Interpretation stop and search Strasbourg Supreme Court Supreme Court of Canada surrogacy surveillance Syria Tax technology Terrorism tort Torture travel treaty TTIP Turkey UK Ukraine UK Supreme Court unduly harsh united nations USA US Supreme Court vicarious liability Wales War Crimes Wars Welfare Western Sahara Whistleblowing Wikileaks Wild Camping wind farms WomenInLaw YearInReview Zimbabwe
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