On 6 December 2022, the National Security Bill has its Second Reading in the UK House of Lords. RSI belives that the Bill – if enacted – would unjustly limit access to justice.
First, the Bill proposes to expand the definition of ‘national security proceedings’ and the types of evidence that would be allowed in such proceedings. By introducing certain evidence, the UK government could single-handledly turn any case into a ‘national security’ one, triggering many of the other effects of the National Security Bill that harm people’s rights – such as reduced compensation for unlawful acts and making a person ineligible for legal aid in the future.
The government’s proposals would treat people with terrorism convictions as less human than others, by preventing them from getting legal aid to challenge any human rights violations – including ones unrelated to their crimes. In practice, this means anyone who happened to be convicted of a terrorism offence in the past could be abused with impunity in the future. UK terrorism laws are expansive, so these harms could affect many people.
Additionally, the government would require courts to consider reducing a damages award for people who have been ‘involved with terrorism’ – a broadly defined term – effectively reducing the consequences to the government of engaging in wrongdoing and denying justice to people who have genuinely been harmed. Coupled with plans to ‘reform’ human rights laws in the UK, the Bill will effectively remove government accountability for unlawful acts.
To comply with human rights laws, which are premised on the equal humanity of all people, the UK government should remove clauses 82-85 and 87-88 from the National Security Bill.
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