On 17 January 2012 the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) handed down its judgment in Othman (Abu Qatada) v UK. It was on appeal from the House of Lords cases RB and U (Algeria) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and Secretary of State for the Home Department v OO (Jordan) which […]
Justice and Security Green Paper Consultation
January 11, 2012
JUSTICE has published its response to the Government’s Green Paper on Justice and Security. We strongly criticise Government’s principal proposals– which would give the Government the discretion to trigger the use of secret evidence in any civil proceedings – as an unnecessary, unfair and unjustified interference with the principle of open justice. The Government should think again […]
Scotland Bill
January 8, 2012
Following agreement of both Houses on the text of this Bill it achieved Royal Assent on 1 May 2012. The Bill is now an Act of Parliament. The Bill will implement recommendations of the Final Report of the Commission on Scottish Devolution (the Calman Commission). It would make a number of adjustments to the boundary […]
JUSTICE calls on the Prime Minister to show “moral leadership” on torture inquiry
January 6, 2012
Abdel Hakim Belhaj, now head of the Tripoli Military Council, today announced his decision not to appear before the Government’s Detainee Inquiry, led by Sir Peter Gibson. In proceedings against the Government, Mr Belhadj claims that, following intervention by UK security and intelligence agencies, he was held and tortured in Tripoli under the Gaddafi regime. […]
Identity Documents Bill
December 21, 2011
The main purpose of this bill was to abolish identity cards and the National Identity Register, by repealing the Identity Cards Act 2006. The bill received Royal Assent on 21 December 2010 and became the Identity Documents Act 2010, you can see the bill’s passage through Parliament. JUSTICE Briefing – House of Commons Second Reading – June […]
The right to legal assistance- EU Procedural Safeguard Measure C
December 19, 2011
Government’s plans to change law on family migration
What is the government proposing to do? The government wishes to reduce net immigration to the UK as well as to prevent abuse of the immigration system. It has, therefore, made a number of proposals to tighten requirements for third-country nationals wishing to join family members in the UK, as well as to change/clarify the […]
Proposed changes to the law on anti-social behaviour
The Home Office issued a consultation paper in February 2011, More Effective Responses to Anti-Social Behaviour, to which JUSTICE responded. What changes is the government proposing? The main measures proposed by the consultation paper are the Crime Prevention Injunction (CPI) and the Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO). The CPI would be available on the application of […]
EU procedural safeguards update
What is happening? Since we last mentioned procedural safeguards in edition 9 (Spring 2009), where we outlined the need for protection of suspects’ rights in criminal matters, and informed that the Swedish Presidency would bring the issue back to the EU agenda, much work in this area has taken place. The Swedish Roadmap was adopted […]
Arrest warrants for international crimes
What is happening? The government is seeking to change the law to prohibit the issue of an arrest warrant by a magistrate on application by a private citizen against a person suspected of one of a list of international crimes – torture, war crimes, piracy and hijacking – unless the Director of Public Prosecutions gives […]