JUSTICE welcomes the overwhelming Parliamentary consensus that the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill must be substantially redrafted to remove or revise overbroad, imprecise or vague powers and to strengthen crucial protections for individual privacy. Since 2011, JUSTICE has called for a coherent, holistic rewrite of surveillance law to increase accountability and transparency, to provide clear powers […]
Immigration Bill briefing for House of Lords Committee Stage
January 14, 2016
JUSTICE has produced a new briefing to inform the consideration of the Immigration Bill 2015-16 in the House of Lords Committee Stage, which is due to begin on Monday 18 January. JUSTICE’s previous briefings on this Bill have been quoted extensively during debates in both the House of Commons and the Lords, not least by Andy […]
Draft Investigatory Powers Bill
December 18, 2015
The Draft Investigatory Powers Bill was published on 4 November 2015 for consultation. A Joint Committee appointed to report on the Draft Bill published its report on 11 February 2016. In 2011, JUSTICE recommended that the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (‘RIPA’) be repealed and replaced by a modern legal framework for surveillance more […]
JUSTICE written evidence to Scottish Parliament Human Rights Inquiry
December 3, 2015
JUSTICE has urged MSPs to consider the implications of the Government’s proposed repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998 for the Scots legal system. Responding to a call for evidence on the upcoming changes from the European and External Affairs Committee at Holyrood, JUSTICE raises concerns about the likelihood that the proposed reforms will reduce […]
JUSTICE & others call on Prime Minister to rethink Ministerial commitment to the rule of law
November 27, 2015
JUSTICE today (26 November 2015) joined a group of leading UK law reform and human rights organisations in urging the Prime Minister to reverse changes to the Ministerial Code which remove an unambiguous obligation for Ministers to respect international law in all that they do. On 15 October 2015, amendments were made to the Code, […]
The Draft Investigatory Powers Bill: Building a Surveillance Framework for a Digital Age?
November 6, 2015
Earlier this week, in anticipation of the publication of the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill, JUSTICE published Freedom from suspicion: Building a surveillance framework for a digital age. Since our 2011 call for wholesale reform, in Freedom from suspicion: Surveillance reform for a digital age; in the intervening four years, change has become not only timely, […]
Building a surveillance law fit for purpose – new JUSTICE publication
November 3, 2015
In 2011, JUSTICE published Freedom from Suspicion: Surveillance Reform for a Digital Age, a forward looking report on the failure of the surveillance framework in the UK to keep pace with changing technology, to the detriment of both individual privacy and the credibility of the work of our law enforcement and intelligence agencies. We recommended […]
New guide to judicial review reforms
October 21, 2015
New guide to judicial review reforms published by JUSTICE, The Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law and The Public Law Project JUSTICE today publishes “Judicial Review and the Rule of Law: An Introduction to the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015, Part 4”. The result of a collaborative project with The Bingham Centre for […]
Alison Saunders gives JUSTICE Tom Sargant Memorial Lecture
This year’s Tom Sargant Annual Memorial Lecture was given last night by Director of Public Prosecutions, Alison Saunders CB. Her lecture, The Crown Prosecution Service: Protector of victims’ and defendants’ rights, provided insights on the historical development of support for victims of crime, while ensuring safeguards were in place to main the defendants fair trial […]
JUSTICE briefing extensively quoted in Parliament
October 14, 2015
JUSTICE’s briefing on the Immigration Bill 2015-16 was quoted extensively during its second reading in the House of Commons yesterday. Both the Shadow Home Secretary, Andy Burnham (scroll down to Column 209) and the SNP’s Justice and Home Affairs spokesperson, Joanna Cherry (scroll down to Column 246), referenced some of our concerns and urged Members of the House to […]