Stephen Tall writes: The best and most important debate at this week’s Lib Dem conference was on the motion opposing the extension of secret courts proposed in the Coalition’s justice and security bill. Jo Shaw’s opening speech was acclaimed by many as the best of the week and helped ensure the overwhelming rejection of ‘secret courts’. For the benefit of those who weren’t able to hear it, and for those who want to remind themselves of the clarity of Jo’s arguments, we’re delighted to publish the full text below.
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Full text of Jo Shaw’s speech to Lib Dem conference, 25th September 2012
Conference, this motion is clear in what it calls for as Liberal Democrat party policy – the rejection of secret courts in civil claims. Claims that could arise, for example, from victims of Hillsborough, families of friendly fire victims in Afghanistan, or victims of torture and extraordinary rendition. Victims of negligence just as much as victims of abuse. This is about their ability to expose the truth through a civil case.
The motion asks for two policy outcomes in the unamended lines 41-48:
1) For Part II of the Justice and Security Bill to be rejected, by Liberal Democrats in government and on the back benches
2) For the current system of Public Interest Immunity to be put on to the statute book.
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