Secret trials
The trustees of Quaker Concern for the Abolition of Torture ask: Is justice being served by secret trials?
A key aspect of justice is its transparency in the conduct of law – ‘open justice’. This is currently under threat in this country. Quaker Concern for the Abolition of Torture (Q-CAT) trustees would like to share their disquiet over this with Friends.
Open justice has been a founding principle of British justice for over 1,000 years, and was described by David Neuberger, baron of Abbotsbury and president of the Supreme Court of the UK, in October 2013, as ‘a fundamental feature of the rule of law in any modern democratic society’. In the past, transparency in the conduct of legal actions has not been an optional extra. It has been an essential. This is set to change.
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