Justice and security green paper
Justice and security green paper

Author: Great Britain: Ministry of Justice

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2011-10-19

Total Pages: 92

ISBN-13: 9780101819428

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In safeguarding national security the Government produces and receives sensitive information. This information must be protected appropriately, as failure to do so may compromise investigations, endanger lives and ultimately lessen its ability to keep the country safe. The increased security and intelligence activity of recent years has led to greater scrutiny including in the civil courts, which have heard a growing numbers of cases challenging Government decisions and actions in the national security sphere. Such cases involve information that under current rules cannot be disclosed in a courtroom. The UK justice system is then either unable to pass judgment and cases collapse or are settled without a judge reaching any conclusions. This green paper aims to respond to the challenges of how sensitive information is treated in the full range of civil proceedings. It looks for solutions that improve the current arrangements while upholding the Government's commitment to the rule of law. It also addresses the need for public reassurance that the national security work is robustly scrutinised, and that the scrutinising bodies are credible and effective. The proposals in this consultation are in three broad areas: enhancing procedural fairness, safeguarding material and reform of intelligence oversight.

The justice and security green paper
The justice and security green paper

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: Joint Committee on Human Rights

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2012-04-04

Total Pages: 74

ISBN-13: 9780108475788

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The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) calls for statutory clarification of law on disclosure of national security-sensitive material, but finds no case for more extensive change. The Government has failed to make the case for extending "closed material procedures" to all civil proceedings and to inquests: the Government has not demonstrated that the fairness concern on which it relies to justify the proposal is in fact a real and practical problem. The Committee believes that closed material procedures are inherently unfair and the proposals in the Green Paper are a radical departure from longstanding traditions of open justice and fairness. Nor does it accept that replacing the current law governing disclosure of sensitive material (the law of Public Interest Immunity, or "PII") with closed material procedures is justified. The rule of law requires that decisions about the disclosure of material in legal proceedings be taken by judges not ministers and the current legal framework of PII has not been shown to be inadequate. There is a case, however, for that legal framework to be made clearer in the way in which it applies to national security-sensitive material and the Committee suggests how that could be done by legislation and changes to the Coroners Rules and guidance. The Committee regrets that the Green Paper overlooks the very considerable impact of its proposals on the freedom and ability of the media to report on matters of public interest and concern.

The NSA Report
The NSA Report

Author: President's Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies, The

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2014-03-31

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 1400851270

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The official report that has shaped the international debate about NSA surveillance "We cannot discount the risk, in light of the lessons of our own history, that at some point in the future, high-level government officials will decide that this massive database of extraordinarily sensitive private information is there for the plucking. Americans must never make the mistake of wholly 'trusting' our public officials."—The NSA Report This is the official report that is helping shape the international debate about the unprecedented surveillance activities of the National Security Agency. Commissioned by President Obama following disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward J. Snowden, and written by a preeminent group of intelligence and legal experts, the report examines the extent of NSA programs and calls for dozens of urgent and practical reforms. The result is a blueprint showing how the government can reaffirm its commitment to privacy and civil liberties—without compromising national security.

Secrecy, National Security and the Vindication of Constitutional Law
Secrecy, National Security and the Vindication of Constitutional Law

Author: D. Cole

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 1781953864

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ÔThis is an important collection of scholarly essays that will illuminate positive legal developments and normative constitutionalist concerns in the expanding arena of secret government decisions. This book is indispensable reading for those concerned with constitutionalism, the rule of law and democracy as they bear on the tensions between secrecy and disclosure in government responses to terrorism.Õ Ð Vicki C. Jackson, Harvard University Law School, US ÔThis book contains the broadest and deepest analysis of the legal and policy issues that relate to secrecy and national security on one hand, and the imperatives of a functioning democracy on the other. The broadest because it brings to bear materials from many countries, the deepest because it brilliantly explores a core problem of constitutional government.Õ Ð Norman Dorsen, New York University, US and President, American Civil Liberties Union, 1976Ð1991 Virtually every nation has had to confront tensions between the rule-of-law demands for transparency and accountability and the need for confidentiality with respect to terrorism and national security. This book provides a global and comparative overview of the implications of governmental secrecy in a variety of contexts. Expert contributors from around the world discuss the dilemmas posed by the necessity for Ð and evils of Ð secrecy, and assess constitutional mechanisms for checking the abuse of secrecy by national and international institutions in the field of counter-terrorism. In recent years, nations have relied on secret evidence to detain suspected terrorists and freeze their assets, have barred lawsuits alleging human rights violations by invoking Ôstate secretsÕ, and have implemented secret surveillance and targeted killing programs. The book begins by addressing the issue of secrecy at the institutional level, examining the role of courts and legislatures in regulating the use of secrecy claims by the executive branch of government. From there, the focus shifts to the three most vital areas of anti-terrorism law: preventive detention, criminal trials and administrative measures (notably, targeted economic sanctions). The contributors explore how assertions of secrecy and national security in each of these areas affect the functioning of the legal system and the application of procedural justice and fairness. Students, professors and researchers interested in constitutional law, international law, comparative law and issues of terrorism and security will find this an invaluable addition to the literature. Judges, lawyers and policymakers will also find much of use in this critical volume.

Securing Development
Securing Development

Author: Bernard Harborne

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2017-03-01

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 1464807671

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Securing Development: Public Finance and the Security Sector highlights the role of public finance in the delivery of security and criminal justice services. This book offers a framework for analyzing public financial management, financial transparency, and oversight, as well as expenditure policy issues that determine how to most appropriately manage security and justice services. The interplay among security, justice, and public finance is still a relatively unexplored area of development. Such a perspective can help security actors provide more professional, effective, and efficient security and justice services for citizens, while also strengthening systems for accountability. The book is the result of a project undertaken jointly by staff from the World Bank and the United Nations, integrating the disciplines where each institution holds a comparative advantage and a core mandate. The primary audience includes government officials bearing both security and financial responsibilities, staff of international organizations working on public expenditure management and security sector issues, academics, and development practitioners working in an advisory capacity.

Model Rules of Professional Conduct
Model Rules of Professional Conduct

Author: American Bar Association. House of Delegates

Publisher: American Bar Association

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 9781590318737

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The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.

Secrecy, Law and Society
Secrecy, Law and Society

Author: Greg Martin

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-05-08

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1317575156

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Commentators have shown how a ‘culture of security’ ushered in after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 has involved exceptional legal measures and increased recourse to secrecy on the basis of protecting public safety and safeguarding national security. In this context, scholars have largely been preoccupied with the ways that increased security impinges upon civil liberties. While secrecy is justified on public interest grounds, there remains a tension between the need for secrecy and calls for openness, transparency and disclosure. In law, secrecy has implications for the separation of powers, due process, and the rule of law, raising fundamental concerns about open justice, procedural fairness and human rights. Beyond the counterterrorism and legal context, scholarly interest in secrecy has been concerned with the credibility of public and private institutions, as well as the legacies of secrecy across a range of institutional and cultural settings. By exploring the intersections between secrecy, law and society, this volume is a timely and critical intervention in secrecy debates traversing various fields of legal and social inquiry. It will be a useful resource for academic researchers, university teachers and students, as well as law practitioners and policymakers interested in the legal and socio-legal dimensions of secrecy.