(British) Judges ban secret evidence in Guantánamo compensation case

[Elmore Furth]

Source: London Times

Senior judges have blocked ministers and the security services from using secret information in defending a damages claim brought by six former Guantánamo Bay detainees.

Binyam Mohamed and five former prisoners are claiming damages against the Government for alleged complicity in torture and extraordinary rendition.

In an unprecedented move, the Government and security services wanted to use confidential information in their defence at the High Court, which in effect would have meant the case being held in secret. But Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, the Master of the Rolls, with two other appeal judges, unanimously ruled that it was not open to the courts to order that “closed material” could be used in an ordinary civil claim.

Such a move, Lord Neuberger said, would undermine the right of a party to know the case against him, which was one of the “most fundamental principles” of the common law. It could only be sanctioned by an Act of Parliament.



Read more: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article7115700.ece

[Solly Mack]

1. k/r

[Global Village Idiot]

2. Enjoy your freedoms...

...for tomorrow they may well be hijacked by the quisling shrub, president cheney and their ilk.

Good to see the Brits standing up.

Best

[azul]

3. Is protecting torturers more important that the rule of law?

Eric Metcalfe, the director of Justice, the human rights organisation, said: “The appeal court has made clear that a civil trial based on secret evidence runs contrary to centuries of common law principle. It also rightly pointed out that a fair trial in open court is ultimately in the Government’s best interests as well. Any victory that came from a secret trial would be a defeat for our system of justice.”