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| Version 6 | Version 7 |
|---|---|
| Commons backs plans for secret courts | Commons backs plans for secret courts |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| MPs have voted to back plans to allow more civil courts to examine secret intelligence in private, despite calls for more safeguards. | MPs have voted to back plans to allow more civil courts to examine secret intelligence in private, despite calls for more safeguards. |
| MPs from all sides had tried to press for so-called secret courts to be used only as a last resort. | MPs from all sides had tried to press for so-called secret courts to be used only as a last resort. |
| But the government successfully saw off the challenge. | But the government successfully saw off the challenge. |
| Cabinet minister Ken Clarke said it was "common sense" for sensitive evidence to be admissible in trials without intelligence sources being exposed. | Cabinet minister Ken Clarke said it was "common sense" for sensitive evidence to be admissible in trials without intelligence sources being exposed. |
| Two Labour amendments, which attempted to introduce extra safeguards, were defeated by 297 to 226 and by 298 to 225 - government majorities of 71 and 73 respectively. | Two Labour amendments, which attempted to introduce extra safeguards, were defeated by 297 to 226 and by 298 to 225 - government majorities of 71 and 73 respectively. |
| Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan said he was "disappointed" with the result, but would look to the the House of Lords to "bring some balance to the government's plans" when the legislation returns there. | |
| The government had already introduced more safeguards to legislation currently being scrutinised by Parliament, ensuring that judges and not ministers decide when so called closed material proceedings are used. | The government had already introduced more safeguards to legislation currently being scrutinised by Parliament, ensuring that judges and not ministers decide when so called closed material proceedings are used. |
| But some MPs had argued that secret courts should be used only as a last resort when national security outweighs the need for open justice. | But some MPs had argued that secret courts should be used only as a last resort when national security outweighs the need for open justice. |
| 'Unfettered discretion' | 'Unfettered discretion' |
| Minister without portfolio Ken Clarke, in charge of the bill's passage, said "enormous" improvements had been made since the legislation was first drafted and judges would have "unfettered discretion" to decide whether to hold proceedings in private. | Minister without portfolio Ken Clarke, in charge of the bill's passage, said "enormous" improvements had been made since the legislation was first drafted and judges would have "unfettered discretion" to decide whether to hold proceedings in private. |
| This, he said, could only happen in national security cases where the safety of British citizens or threats to international order were possible and not situations where governments had simply "made a pig's ear" of things. | This, he said, could only happen in national security cases where the safety of British citizens or threats to international order were possible and not situations where governments had simply "made a pig's ear" of things. |
| "We have every protection on the face of the bill," he told MPs. While the government had accepted a large number of amendments to the proposals, he said further calls for change amounted to "human rights lawyers clasping at straws". | "We have every protection on the face of the bill," he told MPs. While the government had accepted a large number of amendments to the proposals, he said further calls for change amounted to "human rights lawyers clasping at straws". |
| Ahead of Monday's debate, Lord Woolf - a former Lord Chief Justice and crossbench peer - said the government's amended plans would retain "the standards of general justice" while ensuring that all sides can put their case and judges are not "blindfolded" by not being able to test certain evidence. | Ahead of Monday's debate, Lord Woolf - a former Lord Chief Justice and crossbench peer - said the government's amended plans would retain "the standards of general justice" while ensuring that all sides can put their case and judges are not "blindfolded" by not being able to test certain evidence. |
| "They will ensure that both the government and the claimant are given the greatest opportunity to put their case and that concerned citizens will have the benefit of a final judgement on whether serious allegations have foundation," he wrote in a letter to the Times. | "They will ensure that both the government and the claimant are given the greatest opportunity to put their case and that concerned citizens will have the benefit of a final judgement on whether serious allegations have foundation," he wrote in a letter to the Times. |
| Settling claims | Settling claims |
| But Conservative MP Andrew Tyrie said he believed Lord Woolf was mistaken and too much power would lie in the hands of the government. | But Conservative MP Andrew Tyrie said he believed Lord Woolf was mistaken and too much power would lie in the hands of the government. |
| "They (the amendments) are really about the kind of society we want to live in, about whether people can get to hear the case made against them, and whether we can keep legal safeguards we have had for generations," he told MPs. | "They (the amendments) are really about the kind of society we want to live in, about whether people can get to hear the case made against them, and whether we can keep legal safeguards we have had for generations," he told MPs. |
| Responding to Lord Woolf's intervention, Reprieve - which campaigns to uphold the human rights of prisoners - said it was "hard to see how a case in which you cannot hear or challenge the evidence used against you can be described as meeting the standards of general justice". | Responding to Lord Woolf's intervention, Reprieve - which campaigns to uphold the human rights of prisoners - said it was "hard to see how a case in which you cannot hear or challenge the evidence used against you can be described as meeting the standards of general justice". |
| Ministers are concerned that millions of pounds have had to be be spent settling claims which they were prevented from challenging successfully, because that would have involved revealing secret intelligence in open court. | Ministers are concerned that millions of pounds have had to be be spent settling claims which they were prevented from challenging successfully, because that would have involved revealing secret intelligence in open court. |
| The government suffered a series of defeats on the proposals in the House of Lords in November and is likely to encounter continued opposition when the legislation returns to the Upper House in the coming weeks. | The government suffered a series of defeats on the proposals in the House of Lords in November and is likely to encounter continued opposition when the legislation returns to the Upper House in the coming weeks. |