Public locked out: FOI won’t cover private prisons
Nov 11, 2009 FOI in Parliament, Justice & Courts, Law Enforcement
Despite being paid for by the public, prisons operated under government contract by private companies such as Group 4 will not be covered by a proposed extension of the freedom of information act. This marks a dangerous shift in which public services paid for by us are no longer accountable to us because they have [...]
Hidden High Court Injuctions
Oct 16, 2009 Campaigns, Freedom of Information, Justice & Courts
The Twitter vs Trafigura case continues though it really is the Guardian newspaper and Wikileaks who have been driving this amazing story that illustrates the total lack of freedom of expression granted to the citizens of Britain.
For those who haven’t been following the case: The Guardian was attempting to report on Trafigura, a multi-national [...]
Family Court Secrecy
Oct 20, 2008 FOI in the news, Freedom of Information, Justice & Courts
Family courts are to be opened up to public scrutiny The Times announces today. The move is in response to mounting criticism from parents whose children are taken into care and complaints that they are victims of “secret justice”.
I wrote about the problem of secrecy in the Family Courts back in 2004 in the first [...]
It gets worse
May 24, 2007 Justice & Courts
It turns out the libel law in England is even worse than I could possibly imagine. Now I have both Gina Ford and her solicitor Tony Jaffa on my case.
At least Gina Ford has contacted me directly and hasn’t demanded that I take down my blog posts. Her solicitor, however, has not. Instead he pressures [...]
You couldn’t make it up
May 18, 2007 Justice & Courts
Well no sooner do I write about England’s draconian libel laws and the chilling effect they have on freedom of expression then I hear word that the solicitor for self-proclaimed childcare ‘expert’ Gina Ford has complained to the Times about my piece and they have now removed my article from their website while they deal [...]
Article: libel out of control
May 14, 2007 Articles, Justice & Courts
Libel and freedom of information are intimately entwined. We cannot have true freedom of information if publishing such information is at the risk of being prosecuted. Such numerous and costly prosecutions have produced a chilling effect in this country where the knee-jerk reaction to controversial speech is censorship.
I should also mention that unlike the United [...]
Courts failing to protect privacy
Apr 5, 2007 FOI in the news, Freedom of Information, Justice & Courts
A journalist who came on one of my courses has been in touch to tell me about a freedom of informaton success.
Rupert White from the Law Gazette battled many months of delay and obstruction from the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA), the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Courts Service while trying to find out [...]
Statute Law Database launched today
Dec 20, 2006 Freedom of Information, Justice & Courts
The Department for Constitutional Affairs launched today announced the launch of the first UK Statute Law Database. This is one small victory for Your Right to Know and the Guardian’s Free Our Data campaign. I will be testing out the version in the next few days and give a more full account after Christmas.
The [...]
Statute Law Database to be free for public
Oct 9, 2006 Justice & Courts
After much campaigning and several articles, it appears that Your Right to Know may have scored a victory for the common man’s right to know the laws that bind him.
The Statutory Publications Office now says that the online statute law database: “will be launched free of charge to the public once piloting is complete. A [...]
Finding out about ASBOs
Oct 9, 2006 Justice & Courts, Law Enforcement
Is it possible to find out whether somebody has an ABSO? Particularly, which postcodes have ASBOs near them? This would make an excellent news story, and for enterprising reporters I offer this article from Kable’s Government Computing about the availability of ASBO info.
COUNTY COURTS TO SHARE ASBO INFO
Dated: 3 October 2006
The Department for Constitutional Affairs [...]
