Coalition Against Secret Evidence

The parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) published a report on 25 March:Counter-Terrorism Policy and Human Rights: Bringing It Back In

The report called for a review of all counter-terrorism laws passed since September 2001.

Commenting on the expanding use of secret evidence the report comments “It can now be used in a wide range of cases including deportation hearings, control order proceedings, parole board cases, asset-freezing applications, employment tribunals, and even claims for damages. We note that in Binyam Mohamed’s and others’ claim for compensation the High Court has held that special advocates and secret evidence may be used for the first time in a civil action for damages” (55).

The report calls for a review of the use of secret evidence and special advocates and the Special Immigration and Appeals Commission:

“The Government’s response to the A and AF judgments suggest that it considers itself free to press on with the use of secret evidence and special advocates in the other contexts in which they are used, without pausing to take stock of the wider implications of these significant rulings. Although the Government says that it is considering whether changes to the Parole Board’s procedures are needed, we have not seen any evidence to suggest that the Government has in fact considered the implications of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in A v UK for all the other contexts in which special advocates and secret evidence are used. We recommend that the Government urgently conduct a comprehensive review of the use of secret evidence and special advocates, in all contexts in which they are used, in light of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the House of Lords, to ascertain how often they are used and whether their use is compatible with the minimum requirements of the right to a fair hearing as interpreted in those judgments, and to report to Parliament on the outcome of that review”(62).