“As Parliament prepares to vote on the Justice and Security Bill today, Terry McGuinness outlines why Closed Material Procedures (CMP) are an affront to open justice.”
Garden Court Chambers Blog, 4th March 2013
Source: www.gclaw.wordpress.com
“The government pushed through its plans for secret court hearings on Monday night, defeating amendments tabled by the Labour frontbench with significant majorities.”
The Guardian, 4th March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“MPs will vote on Monday on the final form of the government’s justice and security bill, which radically expands the use of so-called secret courts.”
The Guardian, 3rd March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“An alliance of more than 100 human rights groups, legal experts and free press campaigners has called on MPs to vote against government plans for ‘secret courts’ – branding them “a charter for cover-ups” that will seriously undermine the principles of British justice.”
The Guardian, 3rd March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The former head of the judiciary, Lord Woolf, has thrown his support behind plans to allow more civil courts to examine secret intelligence in private.”
BBC News, 4th March 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A Libyan politician who is suing the former foreign secretary Jack Straw and the British government for damages after being kidnapped and taken to one of Gaddafi’s jails has offered to settle the case for just £3, providing he also receives an unreserved apology.”
The Guardian, 4th March 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Controversial government plans to introduce a new generation of secret courts have been dealt a major blow after hundreds of lawyers attacked them as ‘contrary to the rule of law’.”
The Guardian, 28th February 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Judges should be given the ‘maximum amount of discretion’ in deciding whether or not to order a secret court hearing under the justice and security bill, Ken Clarke has told MPs and peers.”
The Guardian, 12th February 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The government’s Justice and Security Bill has this week entered a new phase of debate in the House of Commons as it is considered in detail by a 19-member Public Bill Committee over the next month. The critics of this Bill – and there are many – argue that it will make ‘secret justice’ a standard part of our legal process. The latest set of amendments proposed by the government were revealed yesterday and within them lies a crucial and unjustifiable secrecy provision. The significance of the amendments becomes apparent when one looks at how the Bill has progressed so far.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 30th Janaury 2013
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
“Key amendments to government plans to expand secret courts may have reassured many Liberal Democrats MPs but do not give enough ground to satisfy civil liberties groups.”
The Guardian, 29th January 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Judges will decide whether civil cases involving national security can be heard in secret in a climbdown by the Government.”
Daily Telegraph, 29th January 2013
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Extending secret courts to ordinary civil justice cases would see the UK ‘stoop to the level of repressive regimes’, the Law Society warns today.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 24th January 2013
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
“The Treasury is urging the supreme court to consider secret evidence for the first time when it hears an appeal by an Iranian bank against sanctions imposed on it by the British government.”
The Guardian, 22nd January 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Two versions of a highly sensitive military witness statement – initially substantially withheld, then later revealed – illustrate the dangers of government plans to expand secret courts, according to campaigners.”
The Guardian, 10th January 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Secret court hearings could be used when the families of soldiers who die as a result of Ministry of Defence failures pursue compensation claims, the minister responsible for the justice and security bill has admitted.”
The Guardian, 18th December 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The UK government has agreed to pay £2.2m ($3.5m) to a Libyan dissident and his
family who say MI6 was involved in their illegal rendition.”
BBC News, 13th December 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“The government could be preparing to back down over whether judges or ministers should have the final say on legal evidence being heard in secret.”
The Guardian, 11th December 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The government’s battle to introduce more secrecy to British courts returns to Parliament on Wednesday – but after a series of heavy defeats for ministers over the issue, are they, in fact, actually winning?”
BBC News, 28th November 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“This coming Wednesday sees the end of the first stage of the Justice and Security Bill’s passage into law. The Bill which would introduce Closed Material Procedures (CMP) – where one side of a case is excluded with his legal team and represented by a security cleared special advocate in cases involving national security – has become widely known as the Secret Courts Bill. Its progress has been closely scrutinised in this blog over the past six months.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 26th November 2012
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
“Peers delivered a series of humiliating defeats on Wednesday night to government plans to introduce secret courts.”
The Guardian, 21st November 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
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