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Handle with care

15 December 2011 / Alex Odell , Victoria Oakes
Issue: 7494 / Categories: Features , Public , Constitutional law
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Justice v security: has the government got the balance right? Victoria Oakes & Alex Odell review the evidence

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

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NEWS
Entries are now open for the 2026 LexisNexis Legal Awards, celebrating achievement and innovation in the law across 24 categories
The London Legal Support Trust (LLST) is calling on the legal community to don aprons and sharpen their pencils for two of its most popular fundraising events—the Great Legal Bake and the Great Legal Quiz. The events, which take place in November, raise vital funds for free legal advice charities across London and the South East
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has launched a review of its whiplash policies, including fixed tariffs, statutory definition of the injury, ban on settling cases without medical evidence and small claims limit
Family lawyers have welcomed government plans to repeal the presumption of parental involvement from the Children Act 1989, but emphasised the need for each case to be determined on its facts
Transferring anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing supervision to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) could create extra paperwork and increase costs for clients, lawyers have warned 
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