Human Rights

Just in time for the General Election season, the Bar Counci l—at a reception at the House of Commons on 3 December 2009—launched a “Manifesto of Justice” in conjunction with Liberty, ILEX, JUSTICE, Legal Aid Practitioners Group, Law Centres Federation, and Advice UK. 

The group’s aim is to support three core principles: good governance and the rule of law, respect for human rights, and civil liberties and access tojustice. The event was intended to begin the process of making a strong case for the role of a good justice system. 

The Law Reform Committee essay competition 2009 was won by Tom Cleaver with his essay “Modernising the Law of Markets and Fairs". Second place went to Liam Loughlin for his entry "Reforming the Law Concerning Physician Assisted Suicide". The winner of the CPE category was Thomas Hope with his entry “Bringing Some Sanity to the Insanity Defence" and runner-up CPE entry was James Hamerton-Stove with “Shifting the Burden in English Defamation Law” 

Lord Neuberger delivered a powerful endorsement of the value of the rule of law in diffi - cult times, in this year’s Atkin lecture. Choosing the subject of the equity of human rights, Lord Neuberger recalled Lord Atkin’s dissenting judgment in Liversidge v Anderson (1940), in which he questioned the discretionary powers of the security services to detain Robert Liversidge in Brixton prison for alleged “hostile associations”. This judgment had relevance for legislation brought in to assist the government’s current “war on terror”. 

Desmond Browne QC argues that the law of privacy should provide equal protection to both private citizens and celebrities 

In recent months there has been much debate whether we have gone too far in protecting rights under art 8 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950  and along the way sacrificed too much of our freedom of expression under art 10. But whilst our new domestic law of privacy protects (perhaps even excessively) celebrities against the media, it is paradoxical that there remain concerns about the adequacy of the citizen’s protection against the State. Should not the same Convention right be protecting both? 

DESMOND Browne QC, Chairman of the Bar, has spoken on the theme of ‘Human rights under threat abroad and at home’ at a fringe meeting at Labour Party Conference on Sunday. 

The meeting, organised by the Society of Labour Lawyers and the Bar Council, brought together a distinguished panel of speakers, consisting of Lord Bach, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice, Beatrice Mtetwa of the Zimbabwean Bar, and Desmond Browne QC, Chairman of the Bar. 

Debate on the future of the Human Rights Act 1998 (“HRA 1998”) illustrates a number of contemporary political themes.  

There is convergence – both Labour and the Conservatives invoke the spirit of the Glorious Revolution with arguments for a new Bill of Rights. There is divergence – in essence, Labour and the Liberal Democrats are for the HRA 1998 and the Conservatives against it – though all sides have their mavericks. There is an awful lot of confusion, if not wilful obfuscation. And, underneath the politics, there are, largely unacknowledged, constitutional principles that limit what can practically be done. 

Freedom of expression is “an important card in the pack” but “not always the ace of trumps”,  according to Lady Justice Arden.
In a speech, Freedom of Expression and the Role of a Supreme Court—Some Issues from Around the World, at a judicial academic conference in the summer, Arden LJ considered the role of Supreme Courts. 

The Australian Bar Association Conference examined how English law deals with human rights considerations, privacy issues and direct access, reports Justice Glenn Martin.  

Why did 150 Australian barristers and judges come to London in June to hear about the law of England and Wales? We, the Australian Bar Association (“ABA”), came precisely because the law is, to varying degrees, different in this jurisdiction. And because of the different ways in which the profession and the judiciary have dealt with problems which have also arisen in Australia. And because exposure to different ideas and attitudes challenges you to re-assess your own decisions and behaviour. 

David Hobart, Bar Council Chief Executive, Mark Muller QC, Bar Human Rights Committee Chair, and Robert Heslett, Law Society President, have expressed concern at reports of mass trials being held in Iran following the political unrest after the disputed June presidential elections. Reports indicate that lawyers have been denied access to their clients, to prosecution case documents and to knowledge of the dates of the trials (see p  iii of Bar News for further details). 

The Chief Executive of the Bar Council of England and Wales, the Chairman of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales and the President of the Law Society of England and Wales expressed their deep concern at reports of mass trials being held in Iran following the political unrest after the disputed June presidential elections. 

The fourth mass trial in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court began yesterday where over 100 people have been accused of crimes including rioting, vandalism, “acting against national security”, and conspiring against the ruling system.