Thread by @EssexBarrister

I, like many others, am disappointed with the Supreme Court’s (SC) ruling on #ShamimaBegum

This has nothing to do with her as an individual or her beliefs, which (of course) I do not agree with.

BUT imo the importance of a fair trial & human rights have been undermined.

The SC found that the Court of Appeal (CA) was wrong to make its own assessments about national security. “There was no evidence before the Court as to whether the national security concerns about Ms Begum could be addressed and managed by her being arrested and charged upon her

arrival in the U.K., or by her being made the subject of a Terrorist Prevention and Investigation Measure [109].

It is disappointing that as a country we cannot ‘manage’ an individual returning to our country... in order to ensure that she has a fair trial.

The Supreme Court adds “The Court of Appeal’s approach did not give the Secretary of State’s assessment the respect which it should have received, given that it is the Secretary of State who has been charged by Parliament with responsibility for making such assessments, and who

is democratically accountable to Parliament for the discharge of that responsibility.”

I think we all know what the current Home Secretary thinks of lawyers and human rights. It’s scary that the SC emphasise that more “respect” should have been given to the HS’s assessment.

The SC criticised the CA for believing that when an individual’s right to have a fair hearing of an appeal comes into conflict with the requirements of national security, the right to a fair hearing must prevail.

They’ve said that the right to a fair hearing doesn’t trump all other considerations.

“The appropriate response to the problem in the present case is for the deprivation appeal to be stayed until Ms Begum is in a position to play an effective part in it without the safety of the public being compromised [135]”

It’s recognised not to be a perfect solution given we

don’t know how long that will be.

In my view it’s a poor solution.

She is British, she was born and raised here. We should be making sure that we do what we can to ensure that she can play an effective part in her appeal hearing, not sitting back and waiting.

She deserves a fair appeal hearing, just as everyone does. “National security” cannot be used as trump card to disregard basic human rights. If there are risks to national security, they should be actively tackled to ensure Shamima Begum can have a fair trial.

I’ve tried to simplify some of the arguments as much as possible to get it into tweets. The press summary is an excellent place to start if you want an overview of the judgment: supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uks…

If you want to read the full 48-page judgment here it is: supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uks…

I’ll also tag interesting blog/ articles on the issue x

This is a brilliantly written article by my soon-as-we-are-out-of-lockdown-to-be-friend @garyyounge ❤️

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

I’m sharing this excellent piece by @davidallengreen who has articulated the point so well. It is not the job of the court to “respect” the Home Secretary... but to scrutinise!

davidallengreen.com/2021/02/not-gi…