Kafka’s law? Government defends need to withhold detention details

The UK law soc website reports

A proposed new law that would allow the authorities to withhold details of the case against someone detained for national security offences has been defended by the government. In its formal response to the recommendations of a parliamentary joint committee on the National Security Bill, the government states that ‘Interference with the right to know the case against a person might be justified in certain circumstances… Given the sensitive nature of investigations into hostile activities by foreign powers, it may not be appropriate to disclose to a detainee or their legal representative all the information on which an application for a warrant for extended detention is made’.

The National Security Bill takes forward some proposals in a 2020 Law Commission report on reforming official secrets laws, in particular replacing the term ‘enemy’ with ‘foreign power’. One of the bill’s measures, the creation of a public register of ‘foreign influence’, has already attracted criticism from the legal profession.

In its report on the legislation, parliament’s Joint Human Rights Committee made 40 recommendations and conclusions about the proposed measure’s impact on human rights. All are firmly rebutted by the government’s response, dated today.

To the committee’s warning that a provision in the bill removing legal aid for convicted terrorist offenders would impede access to justice, the government responds: ‘Individuals who commit acts of terrorism are rejecting the values of our state and society. They are committing violence against the very state that provides the benefit of legal aid. It is appropriate that the benefit of civil legal aid is restricted to stop those individuals from accessing public money.’

Read full report at  https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/kafkas-law-government-defends-need-to-withhold-detention-details/5114630.article?utm_source=gazette_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Metamorph+auditor+quits+citing+%27serious+concerns%27+%7c+%27Kafka%27s+law%27+looming+in+National+Security+Bill+%7c+Windrush+lessons_12%2f21%2f2022