UK: refusal to allow independent judicial assessment of Belmarsh suspects condemned

A global legal campaign to strengthen the rule of law will be launched this week as the English president of the International Bar Association (IBA) warned of his concern that it is also under threat in the UK.


City solicitor Francis Neate told the opening ceremony of the IBA's annual conference in Prague: 'We in the developed world have become complacent. We have tended to take the rule of law for granted. We cannot afford to do this. We must speak up and we lawyers must lead the way.'


He added: 'Unfortunately, even those countries with a history of respect for the rule of law have begun to abandon its basic principles, while inventing their own war - the so-called war on terrorism.'


Speaking later to the Gazette, Mr Neate said anti-terror developments in the UK are part of the problem. 'I'm concerned at the lack of recognition by our government of the fundamental principles of the rule of law,' he said, pointing to the refusal to allow an independent judicial assessment of the evidence against suspects held at Belmarsh prison.


'The rule of law is about controlling executive power,' he added. 'That includes Tony Blair, the home secretary, the police and the secret services.'


Mr Neate told delegates that the campaign will begin with the IBA's ruling council debating a resolution deploring the erosion of the rule of law around the world and recording the benefits of observing it.


He said: 'I am confident the council will pass this resolution. I will then invite all our member organisations - and all our individual members - to join the IBA in promoting and lobbying for the basic principles of the rule of law in their own countries.


'I will also call on the world's multinational corporations to support this campaign and, in doing so, help to build the infrastructure which will secure and extend the markets in which they can operate.'


The resolution itself has caused controversy. At the IBA council's mid-year meeting in Lisbon in May, the resolution was put on ice over fears that the wording - and in particular a paragraph highlighting some examples of attacks on the rule of law - was too political (see [2005] Gazette, 26 May, 6).


The American Bar Association (ABA) led the complaints, suspecting that references to the inhumane treatment of prisoners and detention without trial had been highlighted given the background of the Iraq war.


However, Mr Neate said this week that the wording had not changed substantially since May.