In June, the civil liberties pressure group Liberty staged a protest outside the Supreme Court in central London, seeking to illustrate how what it terms the highly-flawed Justice and Security Bill proposes to lock down open justice.
The Bill would allow the Government to defend itself in secret with victims, lawyers, the press and public locked out of court. The proposals would overturn centuries of fair trial protections for those challenging actions of the State and undermine the crucial constitutional principle that no-one is above the law – including the Government.
Liberty deployed bouncers outside the Supreme Court – a photograph picked up by The Guardian – who prevented apparent members of the public and claimants from proceeding while allowing Government representatives, holding files of secret evidence, to enter freely.
Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty, said: “The sight of sinister bouncers barring victims, press and public from a Court door may seem unthinkable, indefensible or both.
“But that is exactly what the Justice and Security Bill would achieve – undermining the reputation of Britain’s justice system and security establishment in the process. The Bill replaces judicial discretion with executive control and destroys the age-old principle that everyone is equal under the law.”
