Handle with care

The government’s Justice and Security green paper, which Ken Clarke introduced to the House of Commons in October, was said to be the culmination of a year’s careful consideration of “how to respond to a difficult scenario in any liberal democracy”, namely, how the courts can be best equipped to pass judgments in cases involving sensitive material.

There is cross-party support for the principles behind the paper, for which the deadline for responses is 6 January 2012. In the past decade, there has been an increase in the number of cases in which the security and intelligence agencies are involved. Unfortunately, the courts have been ill equipped to deal with this change. In drafting the green paper the government hopes to restore the nation’s faith in the ability of the agencies to keep Britain safe, while maintaining sufficient regard for the rule of law. The judiciary must be enabled to reach just conclusions in