“There are so many people that suffer terrible injustices, on a daily basis…

Interview with new Haldane Vice President Kate Markus

Can you describe the nature of your practice?

It is a broad public law practice. Much of my work involves social welfare issues, broadly defined – community care, health, mental health, housing, asylum support. But I also do public law cases in a wide range of other areas, in particular other local government issues. I am acting in a number of control order cases. Human rights issues arise across the board.

What do you feel are the unifying themes underlying your work?

Public law is the legal thread that ties it all together. Other than that, it is pretty diverse.

What first inspired you to become a lawyer and then to work in your particular specialisms in human rights and public law?

I had always stood up against what I saw as unfair behaviour, even as a child. Once I had qualified as a lawyer, I became disillusioned with a lot of what I saw in legal practice which simply reinforced the status quo. I wanted to use my legal skills to help to redress the imbalance of justice within society. I gave up a tenancy in a common law chambers to work in law centres, and remained at Brent Community Law Centre for over 11 years. In those days the funding regime was such that we could work strategically to address the concerns of local community organisations, not just focussing on individual cases. Much of the work at the Law Centre was directed towards tackling lack of accountability in public bodies, in particular the local authority. Inevitably public law became a significant legal tool.

It seems to me that human rights issues arise inevitably from a concern for the rights of people. The Human Rights Act provided new ways of articulating these rights in the courts, but the fundamental concerns were not new.

Where do you feel your commitment to human rights work comes from?

‘Human rights’ can mean different things to different people. Enforcement of individual rights can sometimes work against the interests of those who are oppressed and vulnerable. My commitment to human rights comes from a commitment to achieving recognition of the rights of the oppressed and vulnerable.

What inspired you to become a socialist?

I don’t think that I ever made a decision to become a socialist. I had grown up with a belief in equality and fairness. As I became involved in student politics and then later in trade union and community politics, I came to understand that you cannot achieve fairness and equality without fundamentally altering the economic structures that maintain inherent injustice and inequality in society. What does socialism mean to you? I don’t think you can improve on the old clause 4 of the Labour Party constitution: ‘To secure for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange, and the best obtainable system of popular administration and control of each industry or service.’

And what about your commitment to feminism? How did this come about?

When I was a bar student, I experienced the institutional sexism of the Bar. A few women friends set up a discussion group where we worked through political and philosophical texts to help us to understand what this was all about and how it fitted into society – from Engels through to Sheila Rowbotham and Bea Campbell. We also organised a number of meetings for women at our Inn, to discuss the position of women at the Bar. We were pilloried by many of the male students and more senior barristers, from whom we had naīvely expected better. This brought home to me the way in which sexism permeates every aspect of society, and privilege is no bar to it. But my experiences of working with poor women, when I was in Brent, made it clear that it is where women have no economic leverage that they find themselves truly at the bottom of the pile.

How do your political beliefs inform your work as a lawyer?

The work that inspires me is when it can achieve change on behalf of the oppressed, disadvantaged or vulnerable in our society. There are so many people that suffer terrible injustices, on a daily basis: lack of decent fundamental amenities: housing, health care, social support and so on. I find it incredible that people are expected to live in the way that many do, and it seems that they are just expected to put up with it. The reliance by public authorities on lack of resources, to justify failing to meet those fundamental needs of people, seems incredible to me in the light of the vast wealth concentrated in the hands of the few richest people, and the huge amounts of public money that go to the private sector, or are spent on other projects such as the Iraq war – it is a question of priorities not of absolute finite resources.

How did you become involved with the Haldane Society and what form has that involvement taken over the years?

I was introduced to the Haldane Society by my colleagues at Brent Community Law Centre, at the time of the 1984 miners’ strike. Haldane then got involved in campaigning on a number of legal issues and providing legal observers during the Wapping dispute. My mother was injured when she came with me one night to demonstrate at the Wapping gates. I was involved in campaigns to defend and promote law centres and publicly funded legal services, over the years. I became increasingly involved in the Society’s international work, through the international sub-committee and our membership of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. As vice-chair and then chair of the Society for several years, along with the executive committee, the sub-committees were re-invigorated as was the production of Socialist Lawyer. I was part of a delegation to Guatemala and El Salvador, to report on the changes taking place there following the end of the civil war in El Salvador, and to provide solidarity to lawyers and trade unionists there who were involved in legal and social reforms directed to implementing the rule of law in those societies.

In 1996 a number of us attended the IADL congress in Cape Town. It was a wonderful opportunity to forge new links between Haldane Society and South African socialist activists, in particular leading members of the ANC, who were no longer in exile or working underground. Nelson Mandela addressed the congress. The executive committee of the 1990s made significant strides in opening up the Society to new members, in particular to students. The international sub-committee extended the Society’s links and activities on the international front. Socialist Lawyer was revitalised. The employment sub-committee entered a period of new activity, as well as continuing the Haldane’s traditional role of working with trade unionists during disputes including, at that time, the seafarers, and organised a range of activities directed to setting the labour law agenda for a new Labour government. The Society opposed new and draconian immigration legislation, taking part in the organisation of a significant demonstration in London. With an eye to the growing support for incorporation of the European Convention, we organised a conference to debate the controversial issues of what human rights means for socialists. It is great to see that the present executive committee and sub-committees continue to build and improve on that work.

How has the Haldane Society changed, if at all, over the years in which you have been involved?

I don’t think that the Haldane Society has changed much in its underlying character. But the context has changed in part: there has been a significant decrease in left wing organisation and activity, and this is bound to impact upon the way in which Haldane works. Despite this, the Haldane Society has achieved an impressive level of organisation; it continues to engage with the critical issues and struggles at home and abroad; and Socialist Lawyer is a superb journal.

What do you think is the value of having radical lawyer groups such as the Haldane Society?

It is indispensable. Socialist lawyers cannot work in a vacuum. The Haldane Society and other similar organisations provide socialist lawyers with the solidarity of others and they are an important means by which principled aspirations are translated into practice including through debate, information and campaigns.

How would you judge Labour’s time in power from a civil liberties/human rights angle?

Tragic.

This article can be found in the print edition of Socialist Lawyer number 50, September 2008.