Judges liken terror laws to Nazi Germany

you could write an encyclopedia on the parallels of the subversion of our rights today and nazi germany, or russia for that matter...it's just history repeating...

Judges liken terror laws to Nazi Germany


London Independent / Marie Woolf, Raymond Whitaker and Severin Carrell | 16 Oct 2005

A powerful coalition of judges, senior lawyers and politicians has warned that the Government is undermining freedoms citizens have taken for granted for centuries and that Britain risks drifting towards a police state. One of the country's most eminent judges has said that undermining the independence of the courts has frightening parallels with Nazi Germany.

Senior legal figures are worried that "inalienable rights" could swiftly disappear unless Tony Blair ceases attacking the judiciary and freedoms enshrined in the Human Rights Act.

Lord Ackner, a former law lord, said there was a contradiction between the Government's efforts to separate Parliament and the judiciary through the creation of a supreme court, and its instinct for directing judges how to behave. He cautioned against "meddling" by politicians in the way the courts operate.

"I think it is terribly important there should not be this apparent battle between the executive and the judiciary. The judiciary has been put there by Parliament in order to ensure that the executive acts lawfully. If we take that away from the judiciary we are really apeing what happened in Nazi Germany," he said.

Lord Ackner added that the Government's proposals to hold terrorist suspects for three months without charge were overblown. "The police have made a case for extending the two weeks but to extend it to three months is excessive."

Lord Lester QC, a leading human rights lawyer, expressed concern that the Government was flouting human rights law and meddling with the courts.

"If the Prime Minister and other members of the Government continue to threaten to undermine the Human Rights Act and interfere with judicial independence we shall have to secure our basic human rights and freedoms with a written constitution," he said.

Lord Carlile, a deputy High Court judge, warned against the whittling away of historic civil liberties. "We have to be acute about protecting what is taken for granted as inalienable rights. In the United States the Patriot Act included a system whereby a witness to a terrorist incident can be detained for up to a year. This is in the land of the free."

The senior barrister remarked that judges had now replaced MPs as the defenders of basic human rights.

"People use d to look to their MPs as the first port of call to deal with any perceived injustice by the executive. Now there is an increasing tendency for people to look to the judges to protect their liberties," he said.

Mark Oaten, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said Tony Blair was transforming Britain into an authoritarian state. "In eight years he has dismantled centuries of judicial protection. Britain's reputation as the world's most tolerant nation is now under threat," he said.

If Mr Blair's proposed terror legislation was unamended, said Anthony Scrivener QC, "Britain would be a significant step closer to a police state". The Prime Minister spoke of "summary justice", said the lawyer: "It would be better named street justice."

This week the Law Lords will consider whether evidence obtained under torture abroad should be admissible in British courts. Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said admitting such evidence would undermine one of Britain's basic freedoms.

"The Prime Minister is trying in his own words to try to tear up the rules of the game," she said. "The rules of liberal democracy are about no torture, free speech and fair trials. Every time he denigrates these he undermines the fabric of our society."

it seems like the whole world is getting the new freedom...the empire spreads!! it's good for everyone. no freedom is the new freedom.


Law Council warns of police state risk
http://seven.com.au/news/nationalnews/113939
Date: 16/10/05
Australia is moving towards a police state with harsh anti-terrorism laws that could be pushed through parliament too quickly, the Law Council says.

Copies of the sweeping new laws were leaked on Friday by the ACT government and have sparked concerns among legal experts.

The government last week said it would introduce the laws to parliament on October 31, but only allow the Senate one week to investigate them and report by November 8.

The Law Council of Australia said passing the proposed laws would push the nation closer to becoming a police state.

"We're moving down that path," council president John North told the Ten Network.

"The fact that the government wanted to move these laws through parliament with indecent haste and without letting us as a Law Council or other interested people have wide community consultation means that we're very concerned about them."

Under the bill, people who support insurgents can be jailed for up to seven years.

Australian Federal Police will also be able to carry out what are termed preventative detention orders, effectively locking up people thought to be involved or to have knowledge of a terrorist act.

Suspected terrorists who are detained by police will be able to ring loved ones but not tell them where they are, while judges can stop suspects from using the internet or telephones.

Mr North said he understood that people were frightened about terrorism, but civil liberties had to be protected.

"We understand that the people are scared, we understand that terrorism is the major, major issue, but we must not take away fundamental rights without asking our government to assure us that we are going to be safe," he said.

The Law Council president said he was particularly concerned about shoot to kill provisions in the draft legislation, and the plan to allow children as young as 16 to be detained without charge for up to 14 days.

Mr North said he was worried about the reaction of the government in the wake of the London bombings in July.

"Internationally it is really only lawyers who are trying to hold their governments to account at this stage," he said.

"We think the people will understand as soon as they start to see these laws misused and abused by our police and intelligence authorities."

Copyright © 2005 AAP

so this "powerful coalition of judges" is just liberal judges bitching correct?