Say no to secret justice

We need your help to prevent the British Government's assault on open justice – please raise your concerns with your MP.

Through the UK courts we have successfully challenged our security services on their complicity in the torture of Guantanamo prisoner Binyam Mohamed and, more recently, on their role in the rendition of an entire family to Gaddafi’s Libya.

But the government is planning to introduce changes to the legal system which will stop these accountability cases in their tracks, badly damaging our centuries-old tradition of open justice and making it far easier to cover up state involvement in torture.

The Justice and Security Green Paper and why we oppose it

The Green Paper on Justice and Security proposes a massive extension of secrecy into Britain’s court system. Ministers also plan to ban the legal method by which we first found out about the UK’s involvement in Binyam Mohamed’s torture.

What you can do

With your help, we have a real chance to halt these proposed changes before they become law. The consultation has now closed, but by writing to your MP you can help to build opposition to these plans.

You can find the contact details for your MP, or email them direct, using the link below.

Points to mention

In your letters and emails, you may want to raise the following points:

(1) Justice The emergence of cases like Binyam Mohamed do not indicate a problem with our justice system, as the Green Paper asserts. Rather, the problem is a spate of unprecedented wrongdoing by the British and American intelligence services. The emergence of these cases shows that the justice system works.

(2) Accountability The proposed ban on Norwich Pharmacal (the legal principle in Binyam Mohamed which addresses complicity in wrongdoing) threatens the accountability of our security services. Plans for a ban must be dropped, to ensure that any Government involvement in wrongdoing remains reviewable by a court.

(3) Transparency There is no need to extend Closed Material Procedures across the board to civil cases. This would needlessly introduce secrecy to the British courts, damaging a centuries-long tradition of open justice. It is entirely unecessary when the current system of Public Interest Immunity is working well.

More information

Click here for Reprieve’s briefing on the Justice and Security Green Paper

Click here to view the Justice and Security Green Paper

Click here to view Reprieve's response to the Justice and Security consultation