Diane Applauds Law Lords Decision on Secret Evidence
Diane Abbott today applauded the Law Lords’ ruling that the use of secret evidence to justify control orders breaches human rights law.
The London MP, who this year began a campaign against the use of secret evidence in UK courts, said she was delighted at the result of the appeal to the Law Lords.
Speaking after the judgement Diane said:
“Until earlier this year I did not realise it was possible to detain people, place them under control orders or under deportation orders, purely on the basis of evidence that neither they nor their legal representative were allowed to see. Since then I have spoken to many lawyers representing these men – some of them British citizens – and have been absolutely appalled by what I have heard. An individual can be taken from their home and family, moved hundreds of miles away and kept under a control order where they cannot leave the house for 16 hours of the day. Yet they will never have had the opportunity to hear the evidence against them or defend themselves in an open court. This is a system more fitting for a “Third World” dictatorship than one of the oldest democracies in the world. The Law Lords are right to say that the use of secret evidence means that defendants cannot get a fair trial. It is a denial of our basic liberties. The Prime Minster is calling for democratic renewal. He could start by reviewing the use of secret evidence and the whole control order regime.”
back ⇢