Human Rights

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. 

In the wake of the recent Court of Appeal interlocutory judgment giving the green light for the first trial on indictment by a judge alone, David Wolchover and Anthony Heaton-Armstrong propose some convenient and inexpensive jury tampering countermeasures 

The Northern Ireland judge-only Diplock courts for the trial of cases involving a terrorist dimension linger on, though nowadays with a much reduced throughput. But while the risk of jury intimidation and religious bias may have waned in Ulster the perceived problem of jury tampering—or “nobbling”—had supposedly increased in England and Wales to such an extent that provision was finally enacted in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (“CJA 2003”), s 44 for trials on indictment to be conducted where appropriate without a jury. 

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 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. Those on trial include members of the opposition reform movement, including a former vice-president and other senior politicians. Two Iranian workers for the British and French embassies in Tehran, a French academic and an
Iranian-Canadian reporter were also among those on trial. 

This event is the third in a series of annual lectures on current challenges facing the rule of law around the world, organised by the International Committee of the Bar Council. The title of this year’s lecture is “The progressive erosion of the Rule of Law in Independent Zimbabwe”, and will be given by the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe, Judge Anthony Gubbay. The lecture will be held in Inner Temple Hall on Wednesday 9 December 2009 from 6.00pm and will be followed by Q&A and a drinks reception. 

The lecture is accredited by the BSB with 1.5 CPD points for barristers There is no charge for admission. Space is limited, so if interested in attending please register by Friday 20 November with Rukaiya Bhegani at RBhegani@BarCouncil.org.uk or on 0207 611 1357. 

James Ewins, the Field Office Director of IJM in Bangalore, explains how he is using his legal experience and skills gained at the family Bar to his advantage in freeing slaves in India.  

It may seem like a career at the family Bar advising upon and litigating big-money divorce cases has nothing in common with freeing slaves in South India. And I confess it was not any similarity in the subject matter that persuaded me to move to Bangalore with my wife and three children, to be Director of the International Justice Mission (“IJM”) field office there. But having been here for a few months, I have come to appreciate how my experience can be used to my advantage, and through me to the advantage of the millions of slaves in India today. 

The House of Lords EU sub-committee E has recently published a short updated report supporting renewed EU attempts to enshrine minimum defence rights, in order to balance existing measures such as the European Arrest Warrant. The report anticipates a new, narrower, Commission proposal later this year, which should be consistent with, but go beyond, the European Convention on Human Rights. 

The Union of International Lawyers, of the International Criminal Bar Association is organising a seminar about the defence before the international criminal courts on 11th and 12th September 2009. This seminar will deal with the questions relating to the functioning of these jurisdictions, their procedural rules, the evolution of their jurisprudence, and their future from a political point of view as well as a legal one. 

THE Bar Council has published a booklet marking the 60th anniversary of the Legal Aid and Advice Act 1949. The booklet, Legal Aid: 60 Years of Public Service by Barristers, was launched at the Chairman of the Bar’s Media Reception at Middle Temple, and sets out the history of legal aid since 1949. It describes how barristers funded by legal aid have acted for some of society’s most vulnerable over the past 60 years. 

The booklet emphasises the crucial role legal aid plays in providing a fair and effective justice system, by highlighting a number of case studies in criminal, family and civil law. The studies show how public funding of legal representation by barristers has made a real difference to people’s lives and helped to develop the law. The Bar Council’s booklet is published as the publicly-funded Bar is coming under increasing strain with the prospect of further cuts by the Ministry of Justice and the Legal Services Commission (LSC). Proposals to introduce Best Value Tendering (BVT), which are not based on any reliable empirical or economic evidence, will inevitably drive down quality. With many experienced advocates already leaving publicly-funded practice because they cannot afford to stay at the Bar, the impact of successive legal aid cuts on an effective justice system is likely to result in increased, not decreased, public expenditure. 

THE Bar Council, the Law Society, the Criminal Bar Association, the Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association and the Bar Human Rights Committee have called on the Attorney General of the United States of America to take urgent action in cases where those detained in Guantánamo Bay were captured as juveniles. These concerns are set out in a letter sent to the US Attorney General, Eric Holder. 

Commenting on the continued detention of Omar Khadr and Mohammed Jawad, Chairman of the Bar Desmond Browne QC said: 

‘The lengthy detention, and putting on trial for war crimes, of someone who appears to be a “child soldier” is contrary to the special protection to which Khadr and Jawad are entitled by virtue of the Optional Protocol, which provides for the rehabilitation and social reintegration of former child soldiers. We hope that the new administration will take this opportunity to reconsider the detention of those held in Guantánamo who were captured as juveniles.’