Tag Archives: secret courts

Caron Lindsay

Clarke’s concessions on secret courts will not satisfy Liberal Democrat campaigners

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 19th December 2012 - 12:59 pm

Ken ClarkeIsabel Hardman has written a piece on the Spectator’s Coffee House blog which essentially says that Liberal Democrat MPs and campaigners are on a bit of a collision course over Part II of the Justice and Security Bill. Liberal Democrat conference voted overwhelmingly in favour of this measure being withdrawn because of its provisions on secret courts.

The article suggests that Liberal Democrat MPs are likely to support the measures now that Ken Clarke has accepted an

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 1 Comment
Stephen Tall

Jo Shaw’s reply to Nick Clegg: Thanks for your stand on civil liberties – now it’s time to oppose secret courts as well

By Stephen Tall | Sun 16th December 2012 - 11:50 am

Supreme Court - Some rights reserved by cphoffman42We published yesterday Nick Clegg’s latest ‘Letter from the Leader’, focusing on the liberal stand he’s taken this past week on the internet snoopers’ charter and publicly stating his pro-reform/anti-drugs views. But one vexed issue was missing entirely — the Coalition’s proposal to introduce secret courts in the current Justice and Security Bill which has its second reading this Tuesday.

Secret courts were overwhelmingly rejected by the party’s conference in September, and our recent members’ survey showed a clear majority opposed outright, regardless of what compromises might be reached.

Jo Shaw, who leads the Liberal Democrats against secret courts campaign, has replied to Nick’s letter. Here’s what she has to say…

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Caron Lindsay

LibLink: Nick Thornsby – The Justice and Security Bill is the Liberal Democrats’ biggest challenge yet

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 22nd November 2012 - 4:39 pm

Our Nick Thornsby has been writing about the Justice and Security Bill over at the Guardian’s Comment is Free site.

First of all, he gives his view about why this Bill is bad news for anyone who is committed to civil liberties:

It is difficult to comprehend just how fundamental a departure from centuries-old principles this would be. The right to see and hear the evidence of the other side, and subsequently to challenge the veracity or utility of that evidence, forms the

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged , , and | 11 Comments
Stephen Tall

Lib Dem peers help inflict defeats on Government in Lords over secret courts plans

By Stephen Tall | Wed 21st November 2012 - 9:10 pm

On Sunday we reported that Lib Dem members were none-too-impressed with the Government’s plans for secret courts. This morning we reported that 172 Lib Dems had written to The Times to protest. This evening the Lib Dem battle found its voice in the House of Lords, as the Guardian reports:

Government proposals to expand secret courts suffered a series of damaging defeats in the House of Lords on Wednesday, significantly narrowing the scope of the justice and security bill. By margins of more than a hundred votes, peers opposed to the bill significantly limited the government’s power to

…

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Posted in News and Parliament | Also tagged | 9 Comments
Caron Lindsay

172 Liberal Democrats write to the Times to oppose secret courts

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 21st November 2012 - 11:30 am

As the Justice and Security Bill is debated in the House of Lords for the second day this week, 172 Liberal Democrats have written to the Times to express opposition to the proposals for secret courts and their letter has been published today (£). Although only five names are given in the paper, the full list of 172 who signed before the letter was sent and more who signed subsequently is published on the Lib Dems against secret courts website.

What’s interesting about the list is that it contains such a broad range of

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Daniel Furr

Opinion: Secret courts are the final path towards the police state

By Daniel Furr | Mon 29th October 2012 - 1:23 pm

In November 1926, Mussolini established the Tribunale Speciale, which was a secret court designed to convict those of dissident and anti-state activities. The Organizzazione per la Vigilanza e la Repressione dell’Antifascismo was the secret police force, wtih the authority to arrest opponents of the regime.

4,000 citizens were detained in secret, tried in secret and exiled in secret. 10 individuals were even executed in secret. Secret courts were not isolated to Fascist Italy; Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union and countless authoritarian states used or use secret trials to silence dissidents and guard state secrets. The auspice of national security is invoked to justify

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Posted in News | 4 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Liberal Reform and Social Liberal Forum unite on Secret Courts

By Caron Lindsay | Wed 24th October 2012 - 2:25 pm

It’s fair to say that Liberal Reform and the Social Liberal Forum don’t always see eye to eye on economic matters, but on the issue of Secret Courts, they speak with one voice.

Last month, Liberal Democrat Conference in Brighton overwhelmingly passed a motion calling for:

  1. The Coalition Government to withdraw Part II of the Justice and Security Bill; and put in place instead a statutory scheme reflecting the current Public Interest Immunity system to be enacted which will retain judicial discretion, be

…

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Mary Reid

Conference calls for our parliamentarians to reject Secret Courts

By Mary Reid | Tue 25th September 2012 - 7:43 pm

At most conferences there is at least one debate which proves how different we are from the other main parties. Different because we entrust Conference to decide party policy, in open debate, even where that may be at odds with the views of our parliamentarians.

Today’s debate on the ‘Secret Courts’ motion was a good example. The full title was F41: No Government Above the Law – The Justice and Security Bill.

This motion, submitted by two local parties, called on the Coalition to withdraw Part II of the Justice and Security Bill, which would empower Ministers to allow civil hearings …

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Julian Huppert

Julian Huppert MP writes: What does the Queen’s Speech mean for civil liberties?

By Julian Huppert | Wed 9th May 2012 - 4:45 pm

So – how does the Queen’s Speech rate for those of us who care about civil liberties? Well, there’s some excellent news, and some areas where we need to keep working to get the right result.

First, we have fantastic news about libel reform. I am delighted that the Defamation Bill will finally come into being. As Liberal Democrats we have long made the case that our libel laws are out-dated and in desperate need of improvement.  Our current system unfairly favours the rich because the cost of lawsuits means ordinary people find it very difficult to defend themselves against false …

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