News

Iranian freezing order justified

The High Court has ruled that Iran is entitled to pursue a claim for a freezing order in the UK courts after being satisfied that the claim was “crying out for an explanation”.

A judge at the Old Bailey turned down an appeal by Fouad al-Zayat, also known as “the fat man”, against a freezing order placed on his UK assets. The order, granted on a request from the Iranian government, alleged that Mr al -Zayat defrauded them of £60m after agreeing to provide them with an Airbus plane once owned by the Sultan of Brunei.

Khawar Qureshi QC, a specialist in international and commercial law, says the decision represents the central importance attached to the merits of the substantive proceedings:

“The English court will not grant asset restraint relief—whether in the context of ordinary civil proceedings or pursuant to a mutual legal assistance request from the authorities of a foreign state—unless i t has been provided with evidence which demonstrates a clear case to be answered.” “The court’s decision confirms that human rights considerations do apply, albeit in exceptional circumstances, in the context of civil asset restraint orders in support of foreign court proceedings, ”he adds.

Fears over compulsory ID card plans

Human rights groups claim that the government’s phased introduction of ID cards to foreign nationals and workers in sensitive public service jobs is an attempt to “soften up” the public before the cards are made compulsory.

The Home Secretary, Jackie Smith, announced a revised timetable for the introduction of the cards to begin in November this year, with non-EEA foreign nationals the first to get the cards after being regarded as the group “most at risk of abusing the system”. Following this, in 2009, those working in sensitive roles or locations will be issued with cards as a way of “enhancing the protection of the public”.

Shami Chakrabati, director of Liberty, expressed suspicion over the revised timetable, calling the announcement a “new sales pitch for the same bad product”. “The message plays on fears of immigration, concerns about airport security and sentimentality about proud 18 year-olds buying their first beer! But foreigners already require passports and visas to come into the country and there is no reason whatsoever why workplace entry details need to be put on a central national database. ID cards remain disastrous for our purses, privacy and race relations. A slow soft sell won’t change this thoroughly bad idea”, she continued. The Home Office intends to introduce benefits and incentives to join the scheme for students, who are due to start receiving cards by the end of 2010.

CPS blamed for 2,000 “lost” cases

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) says it is pleased with the results of the latest report by the body’s watchdog, despite findings that more than 2,000 cases were lost because prosecutors were not ready to proceed.

The report by Stephen Wooler, Inspector of the CPS, found that a total of 2,325 cases had been rejected by magistrates when relevant papers were not available or evidence was incomplete. Wooler says the results show a “weakening of the preparation of cases” and blamed failures in cooperation between the CPS and other agencies.

The report said that of the 42 CPS areas, five were rated as excellent, 15 were good, 20 were judged as fair and two, Leicestershire and Surrey were assessed as poor.

Of the four areas rated as poor in 2005, all had raised their performance to either fair or good. Despite this, however, the report found that overall the CPS had seen an improvement in 2007–08 with conviction rates, in both crown court and magistrates’ courts found to have improved.

The CPS accepted that the number of cases dropped was too high, but stressed that the Inspector had highlighted the positive progress made in the past year, particularly in relation to conviction rates and emphasised the pressures faced by the service in the prosecution of cases and greater engagement in community work. “The assessments are a useful benchmark for making sure justice is delivered to local communities...we are fully committed to raising performance to be as effective as possible,” a spokesman said.