Human Rights

Major David Hammond and Paul Hoddinott explain the Bar Council’s involvement in ILAC.  

The Bar Council is one of the 44 member organisations that contributes to the running of the International Legal Assistance Consortium (“ILAC”) based in Stockholm, Sweden. Charged with supervising this affiliation, the International Committee recently reviewed the Bar Council’s exposure to and interaction with ILAC. This was to ensure that our relationship remains mutually beneficial and provides key opportunities for interested, qualified and currently available barristers capable of providing pertinent legal assistance to the international community whilst often operating within demanding and unique environments around the globe. 

Lord Phillips, President of the Supreme Court, has mounted a staunch defence of the Human Rights Act 1988. 

THE Bar Council has voiced its deep concern over the arrest of Professor Peter Erlinder in Kigali, Rwanda. 

William Hotham recently completed an internship in Ghana helping create a training programme to sensitise law enforcers to human trafficking. He assesses the UK’s record in this area.  

According to the International Labour Organisation about 12.3 million people worldwide are in forced labour, bonded labour, forced child labour or sexual servitude at any given time. Anthony Steen MP recently reported that “more people are trafficked in the world every year than were ever in chains in the 350 years of the African slave trade.” 

John RWD Jones and Dr Misa Zgonec-Rozej discuss the UN asset-freezing regime which recently came under the scrutiny of the Supreme Court.  

The first case heard by the Supreme Court, A v HM Treasury [2010]UKSC 2, [2010]2WLR 378, dealt with the UN Security Council’s (“UNSC”) counter-terrorism measures – namely (a) the sanctions regime against Al-Qaida, the Taliban and associated persons and entities and (b) measures of a general nature provided in UNSC resolution 1373 (2001) to prevent and suppress any acts of terrorism. 

Barristers gleaned a hint of what the future may hold, with the emergence of a rash of political manifestos launched in April. 

The three main parties outlined their promises for legal reform ahead of the general election, as politicians jockeyed for position at the post.
Labour has pledged to “find greater savings” in the legal aid budget and the court system by “increasing the use of successful ‘virtual courts’ which move from arrest, to trial to sentencing in hours rather than weeks or months”. High-earning offenders sent to prison will be required to repay part of their upkeep costs. Asset confiscation will become a “standard principle”, with communities given a say in how seized assets are used. 

Mr Justice Fulford believes that trial by jury would cause insurmountable practical problems in administering justice.  

The most effective means of delivering international criminal justice has long been debated, and perhaps this vexed issue was most vociferously and comprehensively addressed during the relatively recent Preparatory Committee for the International Criminal Court, which culminated in the Rome Conference in 1998. During those memorable – indeed, now near legendary – debates the majority of the countries of the world investigated, wrestled with, and argued over how best to create a workable and appropriate form of trial for the world’s first permanent international criminal court. 

The DPP’s guidelines on assisting suicide are welcomed but are unlikely to make a fundamental difference to the way the CPS handles suspects, suggests Nicholas Kazaz 

On 25 February 2010 Keir Starmer QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions, issued “The Policy for Prosecutors in Respect of Cases of Encouraging or Assisting Suicide”, which sets out the guidelines that must be followed in respect of cases of assisting suicide. 

Joseph Holmes argues the case for trial by jury in international criminal trials.  

The objective of international criminal justice is, backed by the weight of global consensus, to replace the “culture of impunity” with a “culture of accountability”. However, there is a real danger that the administration of international criminal justice is coloured by political influence. Consider the following basic propositions. 

Siobhan Grey discusses the Gray’s Inn Seminar on press freedom and the Select Committee Report “Press Standards, Privacy and Libel” 

The incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into English domestic law has had a dramatic effect on the perpetual conflict between media freedom and media intrusion into private life; a conflict which is unremitting and which sometimes seems irreconcilable. The rights enshrined in art 8 (respect for private life, including reputation) and art 10 (freedom of expression, including press freedom) are of equal value, but how can a judge strike a fair balance between them? This dilemma has been given greater urgency by the technological developments that are changing the face of the media. An injunction obtained in one national court in one jurisdiction can quickly be rendered ineffective by the new virtual, stateless and unregulated chaos of information exchange, as the Twitter campaign in the recent Transfigura case revealed.