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

Sarina Kidd

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’.

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