Drop the charges against revolutionary activists in Egypt: Defend the right to protest

We condemn the sentencing of leading revolutionary activists in Egypt under the terms of the 2013 Protest Law, legislation described by Amnesty International as “a grave threat to freedom of assembly”. According to the law, protest organisers must apply in advance for permission to hold a demonstration, and it allows courts to impose jail sentences and fines for non-compliance. The law also gives the security forces authority to use lethal force in dispersing ‘unauthorised’ protests.

Ahmed Douma, Ahmed Maher and Mohamed Adel from the 6^th April Youth Movement were sentenced to three years in prison and a 50,000 LE (£4000) fine on 23 December 2013, for organising a demonstration without police permission and allegedly attacking police officers. Mahienour el-Massry and Hassan Moustafa from the Revolutionary Socialists in Alexandria received 2 year jail sentences and 50,000 LE (£4000) fines on 2 January 2014 also for organising an unauthorised protest. Other activists from Alexandria who received 2 year jail sentences in connection with the same event include Lu’ay Al-Qahwagi, Amr Hafez, Nasir Abu-al-Hamd and Islam Muhamadein. They join hundreds of other opponents of the current military-backed regime who have been arrested in recent months, as part of a crackdown ostensibly targeting the Muslim Brotherhood.

As members of the legal profession, we note with particular concern that Mahienour el-Massry, a qualified lawyer who is well-known for her work on behalf of detainees in Alexandria, was arrested and beaten in March 2013 when attending a police station with a group of lawyers to represent arrested demonstrators. We call on the Egyptian authorities to take urgent steps to ensure that all those arrested and their legal representatives are treated with respect.

We call for all charges connected with the 2013 Protest Law to be dropped, and for the release of all those Egyptians detained or sentenced for the exercise of their democratic rights.

Further information: http://menasolidaritynetwork.com/2014/01/06/egypt-alexandrian-activists-face-two-years-in-prison/

Solicitors and barristers hold half-day of action

On Monday – many months after the Haldane Society first called for direct action against the cuts to legal aid – courtrooms were forced to close as criminal barristers and solicitors refused to attend hearings. Hundreds of practitioners gathered outside court buildings where they were supported by campaigners, grassroots organisations and trade unionists.

Among the many protests across England and Wales, the Justice Alliance had organised a meeting of around 300 people at Westminster Magistrates’ Court where the range of demonstrators indicated the broad damage that these cuts would cause. Alongside the Haldane banner there were representatives of NAPO, Southall Black Sisters, the Save Lewisham Hospital campaign and the PCS. Speakers included Gary McKinnon’s mother Janis Sharp and Patrick Maguire of the Maguire Seven. Matt Foot reminded the demonstration of the unity against the cuts, shared by all but a handful of Tory MPs.

Typically, the Ministry of Justice has responded to today’s strike by desperately lying to the public. Legal aid minister Shailesh Vara told the BBC that “the average criminal bar barrister working full-time is earning some £84,000” (which is wrong even on the LAA’s own figures) and HMCTS claimed that 73% of Crown Courts and 95% of magistrates’ courts sat. But barristers speaking to the press reported earnings of £16,000, or £3.00-4.00 per hour, and it was clear from those inside the courts that lists were collapsing across the country.

The Haldane Society welcomes today’s solidarity against the decimation of legal aid and the progress that has been made in bringing the truth about practitioners’ fees to the public’s attention. But with the government on the defensive and public opinion coming around, the campaign must now move away from fees and focus on the importance of legal aid as a pillar of the welfare state. The government is waging a war on the poor and, as Chris Grayling so often points out, legal aid is not an exception from its agenda.

Strong turnout at surveillance and counter-terror panel discussion

A panel discussion on "Surveillance, Counter-Terror Powers and Golbal Securitisation Strategies" took place on 10th December at the NUJ offices on Gray's Inn Road. The meeting was supported by the Haldane Society, CAMPACC, NUJ and other organisations.

The meeting was well turned out, with 80 people attending to hear the discussion by the excellent panel of speakers.

A podcast of the meeting is available here.

Lecture on How to be a Feminist Lawyer

Listen to the audio of our lecture on How to be a Feminist Lawyer.  Speakers are Elizabeth Woodcraft and Alison Diduck.

Upcoming Lecture 2013-14

Tuesday 10th December 2013:

How to be a Feminist Lawyer

Speakers: Elizabeth Woodcraft, family law barrister and Professor Alison Diduck, Professor of Law at University College London

Wednesday 15th January 2014:

Government’s attack on squatters

Speakers: David Watkinson, barrister and specialist in squatters’ rights and representative from Squatters Action for Secure Rights (SQUASH)

Download the A4 poster (PDF).

Support the Strike Flyer

Please distribute widely, around your workplace and in robing rooms at court.

Download the new leaflet: No Confidence - Support the Strike (PDF).

Motion for Trade Unions to Show Support for Legal Aid

The motion below, which can be downloaded here in Word (docx) form, is intended as a model motion for trade unions who want to show their support to the fight to save Legal Aid.

This organisation believes:

1. Legal aid, which celebrated its 60th birthday recently was a major concession won in the post-war consensus years. This major reform was won by the working class hand in hand with the trade union movement and the Labour Party.

2. Legal aid helped to secure rights and court representation in relation to eviction, welfare and the threat of unjust convictions. It leveled the playing field between the richest who could afford lawyers and the poorest who could not.

3. At the time of its launch, eight out of 10 people were entitled to the scheme’s assistance. The latest figures from the Ministry of Justice reveal fewer than one in three are now eligible.

4. On 1 April 2013, the cuts in the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 came into force. There is no longer legal aid for advice or representation in welfare benefits, employment, family cases (where there is no domestic violence), immigration cases and consumer rights.

5. On 9 April 2013 the government announced a consultation on further legal aid cuts: “Transforming legal aid”. The Government intends to cut a further 17.5% from the criminal defence budget and proposes to introduce a tendering system for large scale regional contracts in relation to duty solicitor work. If these proposals are implemented, we believe that the quality of legal aid services will fall dramatically and there will be an increased risk of miscarriages of justice that could lead to innocent people being convicted of crimes that they did not commit.

6. In addition, further cuts to civil legal aid rates mean that there will no longer be specialist legal aid lawyers providing advice and representation in areas of housing law, education, for people asserting their rights against the state or other civil cases.

7. The legal aid budget only represents only 0.545% of national public spending (or £2.2 billion - the approximate cost of keeping the NHS running for 2 weeks).  Legal aid is provided at a very low cost to the public purse but has the potential to provide access to justice to a great many, most often those most in need.

8. Legal aid should be viewed as part of the wider trade union campaign to defend public services and the welfare state.

This organisation agrees to:

1. Campaign for the defence of legal aid.

2. Support calls for legal aid to be recognised as part of the welfare state.

3. Support publicity efforts including: demands to campaign for the defence of legal aid and for legal aid rates to be restored to pre-1979 levels; and publicising advice and representation on employment law issues, as a stepping stone to a fully funded legal aid system.

4. Affiliate to The Justice Alliance - an alliance of legal organisations, charities, community groups, campaigning groups, trade unions and individuals who are united in the opposition to the Government's proposed attack on legal aid and the criminal justice system[1].

5. Register our support for those in the legal profession taking direct action, including strike action.

[1] To affiliate please contact Justice Alliance organiser Russell Fraser: russell.fraser@me.com

Motions passed at Haldane AGM - 14 November 2013

Motion opposing the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement

Haldane strongly opposes the EU/ US free trade agreement, otherwise known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement (TTIP) - the purpose of which is to further entrench the power of capital and corporate rights at the expense of everything else - social, environmental and labour standards.

Motion regarding devastation and human catastrophe unfolding in the Phillipines 

Haldane AGM notes:

(i) the devastating and urgent human catastrophe in the Philippines caused by Typhoon Haiyan;

(ii) the need for an effective humanitarian response that will alleviate suffering in the immediate future and further when the passing interest of the world’s media moves on;

(iii) the specific request for financial support by Haldane’s comrades in the Philippines, several of whom visited London in February 2012 as part of the DHRD conference and with whom we have developed strong links and offered solidarity in their struggle  for social and economic rights.

Resolves:

(i) To facilitate a collection at the conclusion of the AGM with any monies raised being sent with a donation of £100 already agreed by the Haldane Executive earlier this week.

Haldane Society Winter Party 2013

Advance tickets have now sold out but plenty will still be available on the door for the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers Winter Party!

The party will be held at Garden Court Chambers on 5 December 2013 from 6.30 pm. (Click here for directions.)

Tickets are £10 full priced or £8 students / unwaged / low-waged (£12 full priced or £10 students / unwaged / low-waged on the door).

Food and drink are included in the ticket price.

Members and non-members alike are welcome.

Tickets were sold online up to around midnight the night before the party.  Tickets can be purchased at full price of £12/£10 on the door.

Click here to download the flyer (PDF).