Printer Friendly24th January 2012: The Day of the Endangered Lawyers
Dear Colleagues,
I am sending you the Petition and the Press Release for the Day of the Endangered Lawyers 24th January 2012.
In order to protest against the unlawful and intolerable obstruction of lawyers in Turkey and against the severe human rights violations connected to this, on the 24th of January lawyers in many cities in Europe will organize demonstrations wearing their gown in front of Turkish Embassies and Consulates. A petition addressed to the Turkish Government will be handed over. in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Bern, Brussels, Dusseldorf, The Hague, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Rome and other cities forum discussions or other activities will be organized.
All lawyers are requested to support and to participate in these activities. The protests will be organized by the local organisations of AED-EDL, ELDH and IDHAE.
Those who have not yet organized anything still have the time to organize at least a small protest in front of the Turkish Embassy or Consulate in their Country..
Best wishes,
Thomas Schmidt
ELDH European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights
(lawyer), Secretary General
Full press release and petition can be downloaded here
The Haldane Society joined the demonstration by public sector trade unions on the 30th November 2011.
We also provided legal observers and Garden Court Chambers helped Solidaritea run a tea-stall for demonstrators.
Picture of Liz Davies and Margaret Gordon with Haldane's banner.
The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers fully supports the industrial action called by unions on 30th November 2011.
We do not know whether PCS court workers will be able to close courts. If so, we encourage our members not to cross picket-lines. Below is a statement agreed with PCS for the industrial action in June.
For details of protests around the country, see here.
The Haldane Society will be joining marchers at noon, assemble at Lincoln's Inn Fields, WC2A 3PE. March to the Victoria Embankment, WC2N 6NU, for a rally at 2pm.
Some courts will be closed and there will certainly be picket-lines at any that remain open. We encourage our members to show solidarity with the striking court workers by respecting the picket-lines so long as that does not breach members' professional duties. This situation has been explained to PCS who understand the constraints on practising lawyers under a professional duty to attend court but who would not wish to cross a picket line. Members can express their solidarity with the PCS in other ways, in particular by making a donation to the Ministry of Justice Group hardship fund (see the statement below for details).
Members are urged to make arrangements before 30th November to avoid, if possible, the need for their attendance at court on that day so long as the interests of their clients are protected. If you have no alternative but to attend court on 30th November take this statement with you and show it to the PCS steward. We would encourage members who find that they do have to appear in court on 30th November to consider donating some of their personal remuneration to the strike hardship fund.
Please see a statement from the PCS for further details of support to be offered.
We apologise to members for the late sending of this email.
PCS hardship fund:
PCS welcomes payments to our Ministry of Justice Group hardship fund; cheques should be made payable to PCS MoJ Group Hardship Fund Account and sent to c/o Robin Fallon 30 Saltwell Street, Gateshead Tyne and Wear NE8 4QX. This fund is used to help cover the cost of going on strike for union members who face particular financial hardship. Our lowest paid members earn between £13,894 and £15,524 full time pay outside London and in London they earn just £16,737 to £18,700. These wage rates are for those working as court ushers and some administration staff. This gives you an idea of how low paid some of our members are and the sacrifice they make going on strike. To add to this our members are affected by a two year pay freeze and are now threatened with working longer and paying increased pension contributions for a lower pension when they finally retire.
The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers and Advocats Sans Frontiers present:
Tuesday 18th October: Haldane Parliamentary briefing on Enforcing Housing Rights in East Jerusalem:
The briefing session will be conducted by members of a delegation of English barristers organised by Avocats Sans Frontiers who visited Jerusalem between 19 and 23 December 2010. International lawyers Professor Bill Bowring and Hannah Rought-Brooks joined housing rights specialists John Beckley, Liz Davies, John Hobson, and Marina Sergides in conducting the investigation. The objective of the fact finding mission was to examine the legal situation in Sheikh Jarrah, a Palestinian area located to the north of the Old City in East Jerusalem. Sheikh Jarrah, is the site of a protracted legal battle where the evictions of more than 25 families from their homes have repercussions for the viability of a future Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement and the long term status of Jerusalem. According to the United Nations, over 60 Palestinians have been forcibly evicted in Sheikh Jarrah in recent years leaving another 500 at risk of dispossession and displacement. The briefing session will discuss the findings of the delegation and how the situation in Sheikh Jarrah can be addressed within the framework of international humanitarian law and human rights law.
See a summary of the report "Enforcing Housing Rights: the Case of Sheikh Jarrah" here or download the full report from here.
Free admission. Please note that it can take up to 30 minutes to proceed through security at Westminster. Please rsvp or request to Sara Apps at: sara.apps@palestinecampaign.org
Nearest tube stations: Westminster, St James Park, Victoria. Further information www.palestinecampaign.org.
6pm, House of Lords, Westminster London SW1.
Download poster for the event here
Haldane Society responded to the Ministry of Justice's consultation on "Options for dealing with Squatting".
Our response is here:
The Society is opposed to proposalstto create a new criminal offence of trespass (or squatting) for the following reasons;
The paper presents no evidence, other than stories in the press, that squatting of individual's homes is a significant problem. Such evidence as has been gathered- for example the recently published report by Crisis- "Squatting a homelessness issue" ( download pdf here ) - suggests ,squatting takes place in unoccupied properties and is the last resort of the desperate
The unauthorized occupation of residential premises is already a criminal offence under Section 7 of the 1977 Criminal Law Act., and it is a myth to say that the current law, when properly applied, is not adequate to deal with the problems. This is a question of education and administration not legislation. The creation of a new offence is unnecessary
It is proposed to extend the new offence to the occupation of all types of buildings, including the commercial and the public. Adequate remedies are available in the civil court to the owners of such properties and they have the knowledge and resources to use them. In the current economic climate, there is no justification for such an extension of the law to protect those who are not faced with the loss of their home and who already have adequate means of resolving their own problems.
There is no discussion of enforcement. The police are currently unwilling to involve themselves in disputes relating to property. It is unlikely that the proposed new offence will change this. Resource strapped local authorities (many of whom no longer have tenancy relations service) will not be willing to enforce the law either.
The new offence would be open to abuse by unscrupulous landlords.
The minister is dismissive of the idea that squatting is a reasonable recourse of the homeless suffering from social deprivation because
"There are avenues open to those who are genuinely destitute and who need shelter which do not involve occupying somebody else's property without authority. No matter how compelling or difficult the squatter's own circumstances, it is wrong that legitimate occupants should be deprived of the use of their property".
The Society disagrees. The avenues open to the genuinely destitute have become increasingly narrowed in recent years. The number of affordable tenancies (either public or private) has shrunk massively. The changes in Housing Benefit will exacerbate this. Many of the homeless do not receive the assistance from local authorities that they are entitled to. There is every indication that this will get worse, as the Crisis report suggests.
The minister refers to proposal "stop squatters getting legal aid to fight eviction." People who are accused of squatting only get Legal Aid if they can demonstrate that they have a reasonable chance of proving they have a right to remain - in which case they are not squatters.
The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers and Advocats Sans Frontiers present:
"Enforcing Housing Rights: the case of Sheikh Jarrah": a report of the fact-finding mission to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Tensions have flared in Sheikh Jarrah, a Palestinian area located to the north of the Old City in occupied East Jerusalem. Over the last three years, more than 60 Palestinians have been forcibly evicted in this area and at least another 500 are at risk of dispossession and displacement, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA).
Since the start of the Israeli occupation and annexation of East Jerusalem in 1967, which continues until today, the Palestinian refugee families in Sheikh Jarrah have been the target of eviction proceedings brought by the Committees and their successor, the Nahalat Shimon Company (to whom all rights and obligations were transferred in 2008-2009), before Israeli courts, resulting in the eviction of 4 refugee families to date (60 people) – the Mohammad Al-Kurd, Al-Ghawi, Hanoun and Rifqa Al-Kurd families – all of whom had already been forcibly displaced at least once before.
Following a request from local lawyers and NGOs received by Avocats Sans Frontières, an international legal expert mission visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) from 19 to 23 December 2010. The delegation - organised by the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers - consisted of four English barristers, all specializing in housing rights – John Beckley, Liz Davies, and Marina Sergides and John Hobson as well as English barrister and human rights lawyer Hannah Rought-Brooks and Bill Bowring, also a barrister practising at the European Court of Human Rights, and Professor of Law at Birkbeck College, University of London. The delegation was accompanied by ASF project coordinator Stijn Denayer and human rights lawyer Valentina Azarov.
Their report "Enforcing Housing Rights: the case of Sheikh Jarrah" examines the Palestinian housing rights crisis in East Jerusalem, Israel's breaches of international law as an occupying power, the inequalities faced by Palestinians before the Israeli Courts, law enforcement failures and breaches of international law in carrying out evictions. It contains recommendations to Israel, the UN and international community, the European Union and the UK government.
Recommendations to the UK government are:
- To declare publicly that it will use its influence and all available mechanisms within the EU to ensure that the EU acts upon the recommendations set out immediately above.
- To ensure that senior UK officials observe court hearings concerning Sheikh Jarrah, and visit Sheikh Jarrah; and join high-level groups from the EU.
- To continue and if possible intensify the present policy of providing all possible support to the Sheikh Jarrah families.
- To give urgent and public consideration to the question how it can best comply with the obligations laid upon it (and all other states) by the International Court of Justice in 2004:
- All States are under an obligation not to recognize the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the wall and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by such construction;
- All States parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 have in addition the obligation, while respecting the United Nations Charter and international law, to ensure compliance by Israel with international humanitarian law as embodied in that Convention.
- In particular, to take steps to implement the recommendation by Amnesty International in 2009 that the UK government should “suspend all military exports to Israel until there is no longer a substantial risk that such equipment will be used for serious violations of human rights.
The views contained in the report and the recommendations are those of the delegation.
Download full report here ( 6.7MB )
HALDANE OPPOSES RIOT-RELATED EVICTIONS
The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers opposes any attempt to evict tenants for the actions of members of their family, especially when those actions do not impact on their neighbours' lives.
We protest at threats by Wandsworth Council to start eviction proceedings against a council tenant on the apparent basis that a member of her family might have been involved in some of the rioting committed in the second week of August 2011. We believe that subjecting a family to eviction constitutes collective punishment of the whole family for the alleged actions of one individual. If the individual has committed a crime, he or she should be subject to the usual penalties through the criminal justice system. His or her family should not be made homeless.
We will be responding to the government's consultation on extending social landlords' powers to seek possession for criminality and anti-social behaviour and expressing our opposition to those proposals. We call upon social landlords not to penalise their tenants for the actions of those who live with them.
PROMISES AND CHALLENGES: THE TUNISIAN REVOLUTION OF 2010-2011
The Report of the March 2011 Delegation of Attorneys to Tunisia.
In March 2011 three members of the Haldane's executive committee joined colleagues from America and Turkey in an international human rights delegation to Tunisia. Co-chairs Katherine Craig and Anna Morris travelled to Tunis with Russell Fraser where they spent five days meeting with politicians, trade unionists, bloggers and democracy campaigners. The delegation heard evidence of state torture and corruption. During the Ben Ali years a culture of impunity reigned, a feature common to dictatorships across the world. Another feature common to such regimes is the interference of Western governments in furtherance of imperial desires. Tunisia is no different and has experienced French and US meddling in its internal affairs in its recent history.
The group has produced a report on its activities, those they met, and recommendation for the future which can be downloaded here.
The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers fully supports the industrial action called by PCS and other unions on 30th June 2011.
PCS Ministry of Justice workers, including Court workers will be taking strike action to resist cuts to their pensions, increases in their pension contributions and more years to work until they get them. This is all part of the cuts to legal services which will close courts permanently, create redundancies amongst court staff, close Law Centres and CABx, cut Legal Aid so denying access to justice for all but the rich and driving lawyers from publicly funded work.
On 30th June some Courts will be closed and there will certainly be picket-lines at any that remain open. We encourage our members to show solidarity with the striking Court workers by respecting the picket-lines so long as that does not breach members' professional duties. This situation has been explained to PCS who understand the constraints on practising lawyers under a professional duty to attend court but who would not wish to cross a picket line. Members can express their solidarity with the PCS in other ways, in particular by making a donation to the Ministry of Justice Group hardship fund (see the statement below for details).
Members are urged to make arrangements before 30th June to avoid, if possible, the need for their attendance at court on that day so long as the interests of their clients are protected. If you have no alternative but to attend court on 30th June take this statement with you and show it to the PCS steward. We would encourage members who find that they do have to appear in Court on 30th June to consider donating some of their personal remuneration to the strike hardship fund.
PCS will be holding over 50 rallies, marches and picnics all around the country on 30 June.
Here are the details:
http://www.pcs.org.uk In Central London, PCS will assemble at 11am, at Lincoln Inn Fields, WC2A 3TL. Music provided by Love Music Hate Racism. March to Westminster Central Hall, Storeys Gate, London. SW1H 9NH, for a rally at 1pm. Speakers include union general secretaries - Christine Blower (NUT), Mary Bousted (ATL), Sally Hunt (UCU), and Mark Serwotka (PCS); Dot Gibson of the National Pensioners Convention; and Labour MP John McDonnell. Please try and attend one of the events in your area.
PCS has been an active player in the campaigns to save legal aid, giving evidence at Haldane Society's Commission of Inquiry into Legal Aid in February. Many Haldane members are either directly employed by public authorities or, as legal aid practitioners, are effectively public servants. The battle to save public sector pensions is part of the battle to retain the welfare state, under attack by the Coalition government. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sisters in the PCS and other public sector unions.
Details of the event can be found here, and the poster can be downloaded here
The Haldane Society is sorry to announce the death of our Vice-President Kader Asmal.
He was a towering intellectual, great champion of human rights and unswerving in his commitment to the liberation of South Africa. We send our condolences and solidarity to his wife and his family.
Click here for the Guardian obituary.
Morning Star article on Commission's findings:
Liz Davies wrote an account of the Commission's findings on 20th June in the Morning Star newspaper:
Haldane Society supports Defend the Right to Protest and those students and staff arrested protesting against David Willetts:
This letter has been initiated by activists of the Defend the Right to Protest Campaign. To sign the letter please use the e-petition or e-mail mark.bergfeld@nus.org.uk
On late Monday afternoon, a hundred students and staff from SOAS and the University of London assembled to protest against Universities Minister David Willetts' visit to the college.
In order to avoid a repetition of what happened to A.C.Grayling's lecture at Foyles bookstore, or Richard Dawkins at the Institute of Education SOAS management had not listed the event on its website. In addition, SOAS management flouted the fact that both the Students' Union and UCU at SOAS have voted motions of no confidence in David Willetts. Instead they invited the police onto college grounds to guard the door to the Brunei Gallery.
Asserting their democratic right to protest, students and staff entered the building and occupied the foyer of the lecture hall in which Willetts was speaking. Once the occupation had ended the police arrested a student, and went over to arrest three more. Police were using batons, they erected metal barriers outside the Brunei Gallery and one plain clothes police officer was spotted giving hand signals to the police. The police's actions were provocative, violent and turned a good-natured protest into a scene of mayhem.
The events of yesterday are indeed worrying as they show once again the brutal methods the police will employ in order to quell dissent on the streets and on our campuses. It seems that now, every time the student' and trade union movement calls a protest, the police abuse their powers to intimidate and attack people taking part.
On June 30th, up to one million public sector workers will be striking in defence of their pensions and livelihoods. Yesterday's attacks on our right to protest resemble the arrests before the Royal Wedding and in the run-up to March 26th.
We pledge to defend and assert our right to protest, and demand:
- SOAS management instigate a full independent investigation with the involvement of student and staff from the college into what happened at the demonstration
- the police drop all charges against the arrested protesters
- An end to political policing
Haldane Society supports campaign to free imprisoned pro-democracy campaigners, Swaziland
A campaign has been launched to free Maxwell Dlamini, the president of Swaziland's NUS (SNUS). Dlamini was arrested, along with political activist Musa Mgudeni, on the eve of the pro-Democracy protests on April 12 and charged with possession of illegal ammunition, although he denies this charge.
His supporters say that the Swazi government is trying to smear Dlamini because he is a popular and well-known figure in Swaziland having led many battles with the government on behalf of the students since he took office.
Dlamini was voted in as president of the NUS in October 2010 and has since led campaigns against increased tuition fees, against proposed cuts to scholarship programmes, and in favour of compelling the Swazi government to honour its constitutional commitment to introduce free primary school education.
Swazi parents currently pay fees for education at every level. A situation that forces some to educate only some of their children and only in the months that they can afford to pay for schooling.
The UK's incoming NUS vice president for society and citizenship, Danielle Grufferty, described Dlamini as "the figurehead" of Swazi student politics. "Maxwell is well-known as a radical within the democracy and union movements in Swaziland," she said. She also said the police knew him as the organiser of recent student protests.
Grufferty, who has lived in Swaziland for a year, was in the country at the time of Dlamini's first bail hearing. She said that the prosecution tried to establish Dlamini as a threat to society. "At the hearing, the prosecution kept asking the police if they thought he was a threat to society, and the police kept saying they believed he was but they couldn't produce any evidence. They asked questions about previous misconduct and there were none. They asked about previous convictions and there weren't any of those either. In the three days that I attended court they didn't produce any evidence to support the allegation that he was in possession of explosives. The people in the gallery began to laugh at the police because of their answers, which annoyed the judge and she warned the gallery: 'There are enough cells down there for you all'."
The prosecution argued that they needed more time and the hearing ended without the judge ruling on whether or not Dlamini could be bailed.
Grufferty filmed this interview outside the court where Dlamini's supporters were singing Swazi liberation songs, and pledging to return to the court each Friday until Dlamini's case is heard.
Swazi school teachers took to the streets last week demanding that King Mswati III's assets to be frozen following a warning from finance minister Majozi Sithole that the government could not ensure salaries would be paid beyond June.
Photos from the launch of the Legal Aid Report here
Haldane Society and Young Legal Aid Lawyers release independent report argues that cutting legal aid is "a false economy" ahead of expected government announcement on legal aid reforms.
A panel of independent experts have concluded that cutting legal aid will not bring the savings to Government spending that Ken Clarke hopes.
" UNEQUAL BEFORE THE LAW? THE FUTURE OF LEGAL AID " sets out the findings of a 'Commission of Inquiry into Legal Aid'. The Commission comprises Evan Harris, former Liberal Democrat MP, Diana Holland, assistant general secretary of the trade union Unite, and the Reverend Professor Nicholas Sagovsky, until recently the canon of Westminster Abbey. These three non-partisan and independent-minded experts, each with a long track record of promoting social justice, considered the cases both for and against legal aid.
Their purpose was to consider objectively, at a time of cuts to public spending including proposals to remove £350 million from the £2.1 billion legal aid budget (see over), the value of the safety net which our legal aid system provides for the ordinary people, sometimes poor and usually vulnerable, who rely upon it.
'Without legal aid I would not have been able to get the help I needed. I would have either been forced back into an abusive relationship or had to move to a refuge with my two children.' SH, written evidence to the Commission of Inquiry into legal aid
On February 2 the Commission took part in a live session at the House of Commons and heard from ordinary people who had received help under the legal aid scheme including the victims of domestic abuse (such as "SH"), destitute asylum seekers, individuals with mental health problems and those who had experienced debt and homelessness.
EP described how legal aid helped her escape her abusive and domineering husband and gain custody of their children. Mrs Whitehouse expressed gratitude for the legal aid lawyers who had helped her stay in her home of nearly 50 years. The Commission heard how people facing such problems in the future may find themselves unable to obtain advice or representation if the government reforms are brought in unchanged.
During its inquiry the Commission also considered evidence from groups such as Liberty and the Child Poverty Action Group as well as submissions from a wide range of organisations (the Ministry of Justice, Policy Exchange and The Adam Smith Institute).
The Commission made seven findings (see over). Unequal before the law? publishes those findings, the individual testimonies and the submissions that they considered.
Evan Harris, Diana Holland and Reverend Nicholas Sagovsky said:
'Legal aid is vital in protecting the rights of vulnerable people...many of those who receive legal aid are among the most vulnerable in society. They include the elderly, the disabled, the abused, children and the mentally ill. They each have legal rights which they would not have been able to enforce without legal aid.'
'Legal aid is vital in upholding the rule of law...There can be no semblance of equality before the law when those who cannot afford to pay a lawyer privately go unrepresented or receive a worse kind representation than those who can.'
'Legal aid is essential to holding the state to account...It would be wrong in principle for the state to tolerate bad-decision making while at the same time removing the ability of ordinary people to hold those bodies to account for their mistakes by reducing legal aid.'
'Cutting legal aid is a false economy...When coupled with the human cost to the vulnerable and socially excluded of reducing legal aid, the panel finds these increased economic costs are unacceptable.'
Having considered the evidence the Commission made seven key findings:
- Legal aid is vital to protecting the rights of vulnerable people;
- Legal aid is vital to upholding the rule of law;
- Legal aid is essential to holding the state to account;
- Cutting legal aid is a false economy;
- A holistic approach is needed in providing legal aid;
- Cuts to legal aid will drive out committed lawyers; and
- Cutting legal aid is not a fair or effective way to reduce unnecessary litigation.
Unequal before the law? The future of legal aid is published by Solicitors Journal and the research company Jures as part of the Justice Gap series. It is edited by Jon Robins. This is the third publication in the Justice Gap series.
Information about the Justice Gap series including requests for hard copies and PDFs, contact Jon Robins (jon@jures.co.uk/ 07760 415 478).
It is available for download here.
Please show your support for legal aid by supporting 38 degrees here
And sign the Sound Off for Justice petition here
Photos from lecture on "The Institute of Employment Rights" here
Human Rights in Tunisia
Three members of the Haldane Society's executive committee are currently in Tunis as part of a delegation of human rights lawyers and academics investigating human rights abuses under the Ben Ali regime, the complicity of the US and EU states in those atrocities and the prospects of restorative justice for the victims, particulary political prisoners. They will also be investigating the role of Tunisian Trade Unions in the revolution and their ability to protect worker's rights in this fast-changing environment.
The delegation's progress can be followed at their blog: www.tunisiahumanrights.wordpress.com
Cuts to Legal Aid: Haldane's response to the Green Paper
The Haldane Society has responded to the Ministry of Justice's consultation on cuts to legal aid. We call for an expansion of the legal aid scheme so that 80% would be financially eligible for legal aid, for better decision-maker by public bodies, and for legal aid to remain for social and welfare law and all other areas of law currently included. We warn that if legal aid is cut, only the rich will have access to justice.
Our full response can be read here
Our colleagues in Young Legal Aid Lawyers have produced a very detailed response, saying that these savage cuts will deny or delay justice.
YLAL's response can be read here
The response from the "Commission of Inquiry into the case for Legal Aid" is here
The Case for Legal Aid: an Inquiry
The Haldane Society and Young Legal Aid Lawyers held their "inquiry into the case for legal aid" at Parliament on Wednesday 2 February 2011. The panel of Canon Nicholas Sagovsky, Diana Holland and Dr Evan Harris, assisted by Mike Mansfield QC, heard evidence from people who had benefited from legal aid and from expert practitioners in the fields of welfare benefits, immigration law, housing and community care law. A full report will be posted here.
HALDANE SOCIETY STATEMENT ON MORONG 43, PHILIPPINES
The Haldane Society notes with concern the case of 43 health and community workers – known as ‘the Morong 43’ – currently being detained in the Philippines. The Morong 43 detainees were arrested whilst attending a training camp for health workers on 6 February 2010 when the premises were stormed by almost 300 army and police personnel. The search warrant presented by the police, which was not until presented until after they had entered the premises, was patently defective: it was not specific to the premises being searched, it was issued in a different district to where the search was to be carried out – that alone making it invalid under Filipino law – and, most egregiously of all, was made out in the name of someone who neither lived at the premises nor was present there at the time. No arrest warrants were presented which, in conjunction with the invalid search warrant, makes the detainees arrests flagrantly illegal.
The detainees are accused of being communist rebels and are charged with various offences relating to possession of firearms and explosives supposedly found at the scene. The detainees were transferred to a military compound where they remained until 1 May 2010, at which stage they were transferred to a jail just outside of Manila. Over the period when they were detained in the military compound, the detainees were beaten, intimidated, subjected to mock executions, offered bribes and had threats made against themselves and their family in an attempt to force them to confess or give evidence against their fellow detainees. It is also alleged that the evidence supposedly found during the search was planted by the police, as the search was carried out unsupervised.
The progress of the case through the Filipino courts has been protracted. A habeas corpus petition was unsuccessful at the Court of Appeal and was appealed to the Supreme Court. However at this point, seven months after the case was referred to it, the Supreme Court has still not heard any evidence and the detainees continue to languish in prison.
Haldane Society members were part of a delegation of lawyers from the International Association of Democratic Lawyers that met with the Filipino Justice Secretary, Leila de Lima, in mid September. The delegation was encouraged to hear that Secretary de Lima shared many of our concerns regarding injustices apparent in the case, and that she intended to review the case. Secretary de Lima has since given a report on the case to President Aquino. The Haldane Society hopes that President Aquino considers the report and moves to repair the injustices committed against the Morong 43, and break away from the previous administration’s dire record on protecting human rights, by doing everything within his power to have them released.
by Mike Goold
Wrongful Conviction of Greenpeace Activists by Japanese Court
RICHARD HARVEY ON BEHALF OF HALDANE SOCIETY OF SOCIALIST LAWYERS
Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki exposed the blackmarket trade in whale meat in the course of a Greenpeace investigation into Japanese so-called ‘scientific’ whaling. Crewmembers of a taxpayer-funded whaling ship were illegally selling the priciest cuts of whale meat.
Junichi and Toru intercepted a box of whale meat in a storage depot in the port of Aomori. They presented their findings at a press conference, delivered the box to the prosecutor’s office in Tokyo and offered the judicial authorities their cooperation to further uncover the smuggling ring. Instead of investigating these black market activities, the Public Prosecutor dropped the investigation and arrested Junichi and Toru.
The ‘Tokyo Two’ were convicted of theft and trespass on 5 September 2010, and sentenced to one year, suspended for three years. Greenpeace rightly describes this result as wholly disproportionate and unjust, and they will appeal.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has said that the detention of Sato and Suzuki was unjustified and contrary to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, especially Article 19 of this Covenant guaranteeing the right to express, impart, receive and seek information. Japan is a party to this treaty.
The Haldane Society joins other international human rights groups in condemning the prosecution, as the ‘Tokyo Two’ clearly had no intention to steal whale meat, but rather, in the public interest, to expose unlawful practices in the Japanese whaling programme. Under international human rights law, peaceful protest by NGOs, investigative reporting by journalists and others, whistle-blowing and participation in public debate on matters of interest for society should be guaranteed and protected by public authorities.
In the international court of public opinion, the ‘Tokyo Two’ were found not guilty long ago. By the principled way in which they have fought their case, Greenpeace’s activists have turned Japan’s normally establishment-oriented media completely around. When they were arrested over two years ago, the media all wanted to know why the ‘Tokyo Two’ refused to apologise for their conduct. Today, the press is demanding that the prosecutor explain why he has failed to investigate the misconduct that Greenpeace exposed.
For more information please click here
European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights new website:
Our friends at ELDH, a European federation concerned with peace, racism, social exclusion and equality, have just launched their new website: www.eldh.eu.
Photographs from "Law Versus the Trade Unions?" talk with Lord Wedderburn QC, Jim Mortimer and John Hendy QC.
Protest against Israeli military attack on Gaza aid flotilla
Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers demand legal and political consequences
The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, together with the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH) and the European Democratic Lawyers (EDL) denounce in the strongest terms the military attack by Israeli military forces on the Gaza aid flotilla in international waters, and the killing of at least 10 peaceful demonstrators. See BBC World News “Deaths as Israeli forces storm Gaza aid ship” at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/10195838.stm
Instead of acknowledging its responsibility for the crimes committed during the military attack on Gaza one and a half year ago – which have been documented in the UN “Goldstone Report” – and stopping its unlawful siege of Gaza, Israel is adding new crimes to its long record of unlawful actions.
The Gaza aid flotilla, originally comprising 8 ships carrying thousands of tons of construction materials, medical equipment and other aid, intended to sail to Gaza in order to deliver its humanitarian aid, and in order to break symbolically the unlawful blockade of Israel imposed on Gaza. Among the estimated 700 peace activists on board were the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Northern Ireland, an elderly Holocaust survivor, and European legislators. One participant was Professor Norman Paech (German MP for the Left Party up to 2009), who is also a member of the German lawyers association VDJ, a member association of ELDH.
The Haldane Society demands that the United Nations and the European Union take all necessary political and legal steps to demonstrate to Israel that they are not prepared to accept such humanitarian atrocities and violations of international law.
In particular the Haldane Society demands:
* Immediate release of the peace activists, the crew and the ships
* Immediate transfer of all humanitarian aid materials and equipment to Gaza
* An international investigation of the crimes committed during and after the military attack on the Gaza aid flotilla
* Prosecution of the responsible Israeli soldiers and politicians
* An end to the unlawful blockade of Gaza by Israel
* Acknowledgement by Israel of the crimes committed during the military attack against Gaza in 2009
Liz Davies Chair Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers
The European Lawyers Association for Democracy and Human Rights protest against Israeli military attack on aid flottilla is here
The International Association of Democratic Lawyers call for an international investigation into Israeli murder of human rights workers is here
Arrest of Peter Erlinder in Rwanda:
The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers condemns the arrest of Peter Erlinder by Rwandan authorities and demands his immediate release. Professor Erlinder, a faculty member at William Mitchell College of Law in the United States and president of ADAD, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Defense Lawyers Association, was arrested by the government of Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s president. He is charged with violation of Rwanda’s so-called “"Law Relating to the Punishment of the Crime of Genocide Ideology," apparently because, in the course of his representation of clients before the ICTR, he has challenged the accepted story of the Rwandan Genocide. He has also been a critic of Kagame and filed suit against him in the United States, alleging he triggered the genocide by ordering the assassinations of Juvenal Habyarimana, president of Rwanda, and Cyprien Ntaryamira, president of Burundi, whose plane was shot out of the sky in 1994.
It is evident that Erlinder’s arrest was politically motivated and seeks to punish him for fulfilling his responsibilities as a lawyer, to be a vigorous and conscientious advocate for his clients. The appropriate venues to test the truth of Erlinder’s claims are the courts in which he is litigating and the pre-emptive strike against that by the Rwandan government can only lend credence to those claims. The Rwandan government and President Kagame should not fear fair and public trials. Erlinder’s advocacy is in the finest tradition of the legal profession and every individual and government committed to the rule of law, especially including the government of Rwanda and President Kagame, should applaud his dedication to his clients’ causes.
We call on the British government, the United Nations, non-governmental organisations and individuals around the world to prevail upon Rwanda to release Erlinder immediately.
"Haldane wins out at Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards 2010":
Haldane Society activists were honoured on Wednesday 26 May for their commitment to legal aid. At the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards, organised by the Legal Aid Practitioners Group (LAPG), Kat Craig (Haldane Vice-Chair) won Young Legal Aid Solicitor of the Year, Adam Straw (former Haldane executive member) won Young Legal Aid Barrister of the Year and Haldane President Mike Mansfield QC was given an award for Outstanding Achievement amongst legal aid lawyers.
In their acceptance speeches, Kat reminded the audience that lawyers in Colombia have been murdered for their commitment to human rights and Adam stressed the importance of lawyers campaigning and lobbying as well as litigating. Mike Mansfield called for vigorous action to defend legal aid services from public spending cuts.
Haldane Chair Liz Davies said: "Each of these Haldane activists does outstanding legally aided work and they have made a difference to the lives of their clients. We're proud that their talent and commitment has been recognised by the profession. The government needs to realise that there will only be similarly talented and dedicated lawyers in the future if the legal aid system - already cut to shreds - is protected from public spending cuts. Without legal aid, it will be impossible for ordinary people to engage lawyers to help defend their rights."
HALDANE SOCIETY VICE-CHAIR KAT CRAIG SHORTLISTED FOR " YOUNG LEGAL AID LAWYER OF THE YEAR"
Kat Craig, solicitor at Christian Khan solicitors and Vice-Chair of the Haldane Society, is on a shortlist of three for the prestigious award of "Young Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year", organised by the Legal Aid Practitioners' Group. Legal aid lawyers are the unsung heroes of the legal profession and act for some of the poorest and most socially disadvantaged people in society.
Kat works on public and private law challenges to the police and the Home Office and other detaining authorities. She also represents the families of those who died in police and prison custody during the respective investigations by the police or Prison and Probation Ombudsman and at the Inquest.
Haldane Chair Liz Davies said: "The Haldane Society was proud to support Kat's nomination for Young Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year. Kat combines political activity with an extremely demanding publicly funded case-load. She's active in campaigns to defend legal aid, and to support human rights defenders in Colombia and elsewhere. We can't think of a better person to be Young Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year and thank LAPG for shortlisting her."
Further information at www.lapg.co.uk
Previous edition of Socialist
Lawyer: No 54
Socialist Lawyer No 54 is on the theme of climate change and environmental struggle. The articles excerpted on the web are an analysis of the failure of the Copenhagen summit, by Polly Higgins, barrister, and Richard Harvey on “climate change in the courtroom”.
Other articles, available in the magazine and not yet on the website, include James Thornton on the threat of legal costs deterring environmental litigation, a discussion of the Sierra Leone War Crimes Tribunal and analysis by Professor Keith Ewing of the BA-Unite litigation.
Haldane Society Statement: Concern at sentence for Abdullah Ocalan's lawyers
The Haldane Society notes with serious concern that the lawyers, Irfan Dündar and Firat Aydinkaya, who act on behalf of imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, have been sentenced in Istanbul for "spreading propaganda for a terror organisation".
The Istanbul 10th High Criminal Court gave both lawyers prison sentences of ten months each (which was suspended for five years because of "good conduct and no previous criminal record"). At the same time the same court acquitted former Democratic Society Party (DTP) MP Aysel Tugluk of similar charges.
Ocalan's lawyers were sentenced because of the appearance of a newspaper article entitled "A chance for Öcalan" published in Özgür Gündem on 29 and 30 April 2009. The court stated that the article included phrases made by Dündar and Aydinkakya such as "The lawyers conveyed Öcalan's opinion on the developments within KONGRA-GEL (PKK)", "He is experiencing the pain of change" and "Öcalan's opinions are important for an enduring peace".
Informed by the findings of a number of its members who participated in an International Delegation to Turkey in February 2008, the Haldane Society firmly believes that the sentence reflects the intolerable conditions under which lawyers acting for the Kurdish leader have been subject since his apprehension in 1999 and the subsequent trial.
Unfortunately, it is nothing new for not only have they been subjected to various forms of harassment and intimidation while performing their normal professional duties and seeking to represent their client, they have been treated as terror suspects themselves.
The fact is that Turkish law as presently constituted permits such charges to be routinely brought against lawyers simply for putting across the case of their client.
The Haldane Society considers that this situation is utterly unacceptable and will continue to publicise the cases of, and express solidarity with, those lawyers seeking to perform their professional duties in the most difficult of circumstances.
Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers press release 1st February 2010
The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers is deeply concerned at reports (The Guardian, 1st Feb 2010) that a 15-year-old girl, a Turkish Kurd, named Berivan, has been jailed in Turkey for nearly eight years after being convicted of "terrorist" offences. She was arrested at a demonstration in the south-eastern city of Batman in October 2009. The 13-and-a-half-year sentence originally imposed on her was later reduced on appeal to seven years and nine months because of her age. She was found guilty of "crimes on behalf of an illegal organisation" after prosecutors alleged she had hurled stones and shouted slogans. She was also convicted of attending "meetings and demonstrations in opposition to the law" and "spreading propaganda for an illegal organisation". There are substantial concerns as to the fairness of her trial and conviction.
The Society understands that under counter-terrorism legislation introduced in 2006, Turkey has been trying juveniles as adults, and jailing them for up to 50 years. Recent official figures have revealed that there are currently 2,622 minors in Turkish prisons. According to the Diyarbakir Human Rights Association, some 737 minors have been charged under the counter-terrorism legislation since its introduction. Out of 267 tried in Diyarbakir last year, 78 were given extended jail terms.
According to the European Court of Human Rights, between 1959 and 2009 Turkey was the worst violator of the European Convention on Human Rights, with almost 19% of all violations, and 2,295 judgements issued against it. Turkey also had the highest proportion of violations in 2009, with 347 out of 1,625 negative rulings. The right most commonly violated was the right to a fair trial. Turkey was also condemned in 30 cases of inhumane or degrading treatment.
Turkey ratified the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on 4 April 1995. Berivan is a “child”, whose rights are protected by this Convention. Article 37 (c) of the CRC provides that
“(b) No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time;”
The Society considers that an 8 year sentence on conviction for the crimes reported is grossly disproportionate, and appears to be a violation of Turkey’s treaty obligations under the CRC.
STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF CLIMATE DEFENDERS BY HALDANE SOCIETY OF SOCIALIST LAWYERS
16th December 2009
As practising lawyers committed to the promotion and protection of human rights, we are deeply disturbed at reports of excessive use of force and arbitrary mass arrests of climate activists by police during the course of the peaceful climate demonstration in Copenhagen on Saturday 12 December.
Both the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantee the right to freedom of assembly, freedom of expression and the rights to receive and impart information. We urge the Danish Government to uphold those rights and to support the just demands of civil society for climate justice.
We refer to the article by Dirk Voorhoof below.
"Copenhagen police actions in total disrespect of fundamental human rights"
15-12-2009 15:51:08
I'm a law professor from Belgium, teaching at Copenhagen University, Law Faculty. This semester I've introduced the European standards and values on freedom of expression, democracy and human rights to visiting students. In class we have highlighted the standards in Scandinavian countries on these matters. Denmark is a good example on how freedom of expression is guaranteed according to human rights' principles. The last days in Copenhagen I have, beside my work at university, participated in some events related to the Climate Conference. I'm impressed by the commitment of the whole Danish Society in the actual climate policy debate.
The events of Saturday 12 December 2009, and more precisely the absolute unacceptable way the Danish police treated and arrested nearly 1000 demonstrators during the Climate demonstration, have shocked me. I have seen a lot of people being inhumanly treated by the police, being kept for hours pushed on the ground in the middle of the streets on a cold winter evening. It was obvious that hundreds of them had done nothing wrong, except from just being there, participating in the demonstration.
It is necessary and appreciated that the police isolates and arrests violent activists, but the intervention by the police forces at Amagerbrogade and the arrest of hundreds of innocent demonstrators was out of proportion. The police action was in total disrespect of the principles in the European Convention of Human Rights.
How can Denmark be an example to the rest of the world when so many people participating in a peaceful demonstration coming up for a sustainable development of the planet are inhumanly treated and arrested as criminals by the police forces?
Tomorrow I will leave Denmark for a while, hoping that when I come back around Christmas the Danish political authorities explicitly have condemned the police actions during the Climate demonstration of Saturday 12 December, unworthy for a democracy.
If the Danish authorities take no clear action against the police interventions of last Saturday, Denmark will undoubtedly loose credibility in the international human rights' community. A society that leaves a too big gap between the theory and practice of human rights cannot uphold the perception of being truly committed to these values and principles.
Author: Dirk VOORHOOF
