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If you have issues viewing or accessing this file, please contact us at NCJRS.gov. .. JUSTICE 21st annual report JUNE 1978 2 CLEMENT'S INN, LONDON WC2A 2DX JUSTICE ID"'t>B.~_::..)· h Section of the International Commission of Jurists N C J I[(~:J! CHAIRMAN OF COUNCIL Sir John Foster, K.B.E., Q.C. JUL 271978 VICE-CHAIR!vfAN .,. Lord Foot ., JOINT CHAIRMEN OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Lewis Hawser, Q.c. Paul Sieghart HON. TREASURER Michael Bryceson COUNCIL Peter Carter-Ruck Sir Desmond Heap Anthony Cripps, Q.C. Muir Hunter, Q.c. Prof. Aubrey Diamond Philip Kimber Stuart Eigrod Andrew Martin, Q.c. Michae~ Ellman Anthony Lester, Q.c. Philip English Blanche Lucas Lord Gardiner, C.H. Edward Lyons, Q.c., M.P. Edward Gardner, Q.c., M.P. Ainslie Nairn Prof. J. F. Garner Michael Sherrard, Q.C. Geoffrey Garrett Laurence Shurman Gerald Godfrey, Q.c. Jeffrey Thomas, Q.c., M.P. Prof. Roy Goode Charles Wegg-Prosser William Goodhart Williams Wells, Q.C. David Graham, Q.c. David Widdicombe, Q.C. Percy Grieve, Q.c., M.P. Lord Wigoder, Q.c. J. E. Hall Williams DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH Alec Samuels, J.P. SECRETARY Tom Sargant, O.B.B., J.P., LL.M.(Hon.) LEGAL SECRETARY R. C. H. Briggs 2 Clement's Inn, Strand, London WC2A 2DX 01-4056018 CONTENTS PAGE Chairman's Introduction 3 Human Rights " 7 Nuclear Power and Civil Liberties 8 Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure .. 9 Criminal Appeals 10 Compensation .. 16 Police Investigations 17 Parole 18 Complaints against the Police 18 Boards of Visitors 19 Decriminalisation 20 Administrative Law 20 Parliamentary Commissioner .. 20 Commission for Local Administration 21 Planning .. 21 Compulsory Purcha.se .. 22 Small Land Claims Compensation Court 22 Review of Administrative Law 22 Contingency Legal Aid Fund .. 23 Compensation for Disablement 25 Privacy and Related Matters 25 Freedom of Information 25 Company Law .. 26 British Nationality Working Party 27 Hong Kong Branch 27 International Commission of Jurists .. 28 General Information and Activities 29 Annual General Meeting 31 Lord Denning's Address 31 Annual Members' Conference 33 Anniversary Celebrations 35 Bristol Branch .. 36 Scottish Branch 36 Membership Particulars 37 JUSTICE Publications 38 Extracts from the Constitution PREAMBLE Whereas JUSTICE was formed through a common endeavour of lawyers representing the three main political parties to uphold the principles of justice and the right to a fair trial, it is hereby agreed and declared by us, the Founder Members of the Council, that we will faithfully pursue the objects set out in the Constitution of the Society without regard to consi derations of party or creed or the political character of governments whose actions may be under review. We further declare it to be our intention that a fair representation of the main political parties be maintained on the Council in perpetuity and we enjoin our successors and aU members of the Society to accept and fulfil this aim. OBJECTS The objects of JUSTICE, as set out in the Constitution, are: to uphold and strengthen the principles of the Rule of Law in the terri tories for which the British Parliament is directly or ultimately responsible; in particular to assist in the maintenance of the highest standards of administration of justice and in the preservation of the fundamental liberties of the individual; to assist the International Commission of Jurists as and when requested in giving help to peoples to whom the Rule of Law is denied and in giving advice and encouragement to those who are seeking to secure the fundamental liberties of the individual; to keep under review all al>pects of the Rule of Law and to publish such material as will be of assistance to lawyers in strengthening it; to co-operate with any national or international body which pursues the aforementioned objects. 2 CHAIRMAN'S INTRODUCTION In terms of legislative achievement this has been a somewhat barren year for law reform societies with aims similar to those of JUSTICE. However two important Royal Commissions are at work and another has reported. The Royal Commission on Legal Services Some useful and far-reaching recommendations may welI emerge from the deliberations of this Royal Commission which has received constructive criticisms and proposals from JUSTICE and scores of other interested bodies. But whatever faults and weaknesses it establishes, and whatever remedies it proposes, there will still remain the long and difficult task of securing their acceptance by all the interests concerned. Governmental approval will also have to be obtained for any matters involving finance, and time found for any agreed legislation. When we gave oral evidence to the Commission, the main subject of discussion was our proposal for a contingency legal aid fund. We had made a brief reference to this in our written evidence (since published under the title Lawyers and the Legal System), and this was taken up with approval by the President of the Law Society in his address to the Society's Annual Conference, and aroused considerable public interest. We therefore set up a Working Party to develop the proposal in greater detail, and produce a viable scheme. In this we had the willing cooperation of the Bar Council and the Law Society, and we submitted the Working Party's report to the Royal Commission as additional evidence. The scheme we have now formulated would make it easier for those not eligible for full legal aid (which today means the majority of the population) to pursue meritorious claims. But it is not, and never can be, a substitute for the legal aid system, and we continue to believe that the raising of the legal aid eligibility limits should be treated as a matter of the greatest priority and urgency. When we gave oral evidence, the Royal Commission also raised with us the question of how incompetent professional legal work could be monitored, and how the client who suffers as a result could be given a satisfactory remedy. The problem is clear, but it is extremely difficult to formulate a solution. Another matter to which I hope the Royal Commission will give its attention is the need for some provision for the bringing and defence of actions which affect large numbers or sections of the public. I am per sonally in favour of having recognised "public interest firms", a system which works well in the United States. The Royal Commission on Criminal Proceclure In the body of this report, we set out our views on the appointment of this Commission. It must put back for several years the introduction of reforms which are now grossly overdue-u'\Iess, that is, the Commission decides, as we believe it should, to publish interim reports on the two crucial subjects of the interrogation of suspects and the powers of the police in the prosecution process. The existing procedures in both tbese areas have been under attack by responsible practitioners for ll1any years, 3 because of the demonstrable miscarriages of justice which they have helped to bring about. Fully-argued recommendations fO'r,reform have been made by both official and unofficial bodies, and have received wide acceptance. There cannot be any case for yet further delay. Royal Commission on Compensation for Personal Injuries We are naturally gratified that this Commission has accepted the proposal, first put to it by JUSTICE in a Memorandum of Evidence (later published under the title No Fault all the Roads) for compensation in motor accident cases without proof of fault. The Commission has recommended that a scheme on these lines be separately introduced as a matter of priority. We can only regret that the Commission did not recognise this priority at the outset of its wor!, more than five years ago, and rejected our requests that it should issue an interim report. Meanwhile, many thousands more road victims will have died and scores of thousands will have been injured without any compensation, or with only inadequate compensation being paid to them or their families. It remains to be seen whether the pro fessional bodies and other interests who oppose the Commission's recom mendation will be able to delay this reform yet further. Other Matters We are also gratified by the response of Sir Idwal Pugh, the Parlia mentary Commissioner, to our recommendation that the public should have direct access to him. On his own initiative, he has now adopted a new procedure whereby, on receipt of a direct complaint, he no longer returns it but asks the complainant for permission to consult his M.P. This year, we have thought it right to set out, in the body of this report, the facts of some criminal appeals in which JUSTICE has been con cerned. These illustrate only some of the irregularities which can happen in a prosecution system where so much is left to the discretion of the police. One disturbing aspect is that, in several of these cases, counsel were unable to advise, despite manifest irregularities at the trial, that an appeal had any reasonable prospects of success-presumably because they did not have enough confidence in the willingness of the Court of Appeal to probe the irregularities, or to interfere with the verdicts which had been tainted by them. JUSTICE has for some time been gravely disturbed by the case of the former Scottish Sheriff, David Anderson, Q.C. A distinguished Scottish Working Party has now published a repott which examines in detail the highly suspect nature of the identification evidence on which Mr. Anderson had been convicted, and concludes that there is a strong possibility of a miscarriage of justice. It also criticises the inadequacy of Scottish appellate procedures.