No, no, no

Roger Smith reviews three recent cases where the courts said “No”

The country had a crash course on constitutional constraints as Nick Clegg and David Cameron crafted their deal after the election. A number of journalists foamed at the mouth with impatience. There may be more lessons to come as three recent judgments indicate the growing confidence and independence of the British judiciary.

Among the new prime minister’s more unwelcome inheritance in office will be the aftermath of the more ill-advised aspects of George Bush’s war on terror. His government will have to decide whether to appeal to the Supreme Court in the case of Al Rawi and others v The Security Service and others [2009] EWHC 2959 (QB). This was a unanimous judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered by Lord Neuberger, the Master of the Rolls who made his name—and, probably, his later career—with his historic denunciation of evidence adduced