Here is a proposal to put flesh on the bones of Stephen Grosz's hope for lawyers to voice their views on the present attacks on liberties (see [2005] Gazette, 27 January, 14).


Shortly after the events of 11 September 2001 in New York, the courts rose for a period of respectful silence on the order of the Lord Chancellor's Department. Cynics among us wondered if there was a touch here of current politics, or even public relations. However, the precedent was again followed after the recent tsunami.


Should the home secretary now succeed in effecting domestic internment without trial - a step, however modest, towards such regimes as Burma and Zimbabwe - what better way for lawyers to record their opposition than by again downing tools, whether in court or out, for a symbolic moment?


This time, though, it should be a decision of their own - implemented, one would hope, with the assistance of the Law Society and the Bar Council.


If such organisations are to adhere to basic principles, that should only be the first stage of a continuing campaign involving all of the legal profession.



DR Sceats, Surbiton, Surrey