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Amnesty
International has heavily criticized the UK government’s plans for a
substantial extension of the use of secret evidence in the justice system.
Photo © Steve Calcott
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London: In its published report, Amnesty International
Monday criticised the United Kingdom government’s plans for a substantial
extension of the use of secret evidence in the justice system
The proposals would allow the government to rely on secret evidence in civil
cases, including cases of alleged government responsibility for human rights
violations such as torture and enforced disappearance.
The measures, contained in the Justice and Security Bill due to be debated in
the House of Lords in the coming weeks, would allow the government to use
so-called “closed material procedures” to prevent individuals and their lawyers
from seeing documents even when they show the involvement of UK officials in
wrongdoing, no matter how grave.
If such disclosures are deemed to harm
“national security”, then the material can be withheld, potentially
indefinitely, even if there is an overwhelming public interest in
disclosure.
The government can already rely on secret evidence in at least 21 different
contexts - including in appeals against the imposition of highly restrictive
Terrorist Prevention and Investigation Measures (the successor to “control
orders”), and national security deportation proceedings.
Amnesty International's 50-page report, Left In
The Dark: the use of secret evidence in the United Kingdom, is
highly critical of the unprecedented growth in the use of secret justice
measures in the UK in the last decade, seeing it as a “radical departure” from
the basic requirements of fairness in civil and criminal cases.
The report includes critical testimony from some 25 barristers and solicitors
who have acted in such cases, and three “special advocates” who are allowed to
see secret evidence but not allowed to discuss it with the person
affected.
The government’s efforts to gain agreement over controversial measures in the
Justice and Security Bill come after - among other things - a recent civil
action for damages brought by a number of individuals who alleged that the UK
had been involved in their rendition, unlawful detention and mistreatment,
including while at Guantánamo Bay.
Whilst Amnesty International recognizes that governments can lawfully restrict
disclosure of information in some circumstances, the organisation believes that
the government’s broad proposals are inconsistent with its international human
rights obligations. The proposed measures also depart from traditional
standards of fairness and open justice, and would allow the government to avoid
proper scrutiny of its human rights record.