Perhaps it’s the nature of coalition politics but this government often seems to act like it’s run by Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde. Take for instance last week’s Queen’s Speech. Simultaneously it heralded measures to increase transparency in courts (the crime and courts bill) and steps that will enable courts to consider sensitive information under closed procedures in civil proceedings (the justice and security bill).
The procedures would permit the government to argue it should not be required to disclose sensitive material to a litigant. On behalf of the litigant a special advocate will be appointed to argue in favour of disclosure, but the litigant will be shielded from the material and the proceedings; a Kafkaesque nightmare.
On the other hand the government has caved in to pressure from broadcasters and intends to extend tv recordings of legal proceedings beyond the Supreme Court in limited circumstances. For now we’re told this will be restricted to hearings in the Court of Appeal and whilst “there will be no filming of victims, witnesses, defendants or jurors” an extension into the crown court is envisaged. Potentially the thin end of a worrying wedge.
Strong arguments have been made in favour of each of the conflicting proposals, but they carry great dangers that I hope will be fearlessly aired in Parliament.
An edited version of this piece appeared in today's Liverpool Daily Post, follow this link:
No comments:
Post a Comment