Robin Wilton's esoterica

       
 
« Previous day (Oct 7, 2005) | Main | Next day (Oct 8, 2005) »

08 Oct · Sat 2005

And another thing... or two...


Following on from my previous post: two things about the current UK anti-terror legislative proposals still need to be called out as unacceptable. Both relate to the proposal for detention without charge for up to three months. First, let's not forget that the government has already had to revise previous proposals for detention of terrorism suspects: this Guardian newspaper article is a handy reminder for those of us whose memory of these things fades ever more rapidly. The proposal for suspects to be detained for up to 90 days without charge remains unchanged, and still represents the undermining of a fundamental principle. Second, the current proposal is being justified on the grounds that "in France and Italy, for example, people can be detained for up to four years without charge". Now, I am open to any legal advice or opinion on this one, but I think this is a misleading and bogus argument. The fact that something is done under another country's jurisdiction is no reason to assume that it should be done under ours. Will the government soon be bringing forward proposals for thieves to have their hands amputated, or adulterers to be stoned to death? Not that I'm implying that either those would happen under French or Italian law. On the other hand, as I understand it both French and Italian law have a preliminary stage to a prosecution in which 'a dossier is opened', and an investigating magistrate starts to look into the basis for the charges. That phase can go on for some time, and may or may not result in a prosecution, but I don't believe the subject of the investigation is necessarily detained during that time. The Napoleonic code is renowned for having no presumption of innocence (sometimes phrased as "guilty until proven innocent"). That is probably the single most significant difference between our legal system and theirs. That is a difference which the present government seems regrettably determined to erode.
Posted by racingsnake @ 08:10 PM GMT+00:00

UK law revised on "glorification" of terror...


Three weeks after proposing the creation of a new offence of "glorifying terrorism", UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke has revised the original proposal. Now, someone 'glorifying' terrorism would have to "intend to incite" further acts of terrorism in order to be committing an offence. The way Clarke phrased this was "make a statement glorifying terrorism if the person making it believes, or has reasonable grounds for believing, that it is likely to be understood by its audience as an inducement to terrorism". I think there are still two problems with this: first, I find it hard to see what proof a law enforcement officer is going to be able to offer in support of a claim of "intent to incite", and second, the qualification of "reasonable grounds for believing" once again shifts the liability for commission of an offence away from the "inciter" and onto their audience. That seems to me to be both subjective and similarly hard to prove. There is also a strand of the legislation aimed at creating "powers to close places of worship used to foment extremism". I think this is another worrying development, but I am not sure what the appropriate legislation would be. It's worrying because it seems to me to take that undesirable step of closely identifying a specific religious community with equally specific anti-terrorist measures. Bluntly: it is hard to see this as anything other than a measure aimed at radical Muslim clerics. I instinctively mistrust that as a basis for drafting any law.
Posted by racingsnake @ 06:31 PM GMT+00:00 [ Comments [2] ]
 
 
 
 
 
« October 2005 »
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
     
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
      
Today

unsubscribe from human rights abuse in the war on terror
Locations of visitors to this page
Such views as I express in this blog are based on my own opinions, experience and judgements. They do not necessarily represent the policy or views of my employer. It is not my intention to offend readers in any way. If you find anything on this blog offensive, please contact me in the first instance.
Robin Wilton
www.flickr.com

Links to recent entries

[RSS Newsfeed]

Valid XHTML or CSS?

[This is a Roller site]
Theme by Rowell Sotto.
What's this?
 
© racingsnake