Secret trial overruled following appea

Posted By: James

Friday 13th June 2014

An unprecedented attempt to hold the first ever completely secret criminal trial in the UK has been blocked by the Court of Appeal. Theresa May and William Hague had applied for the entire case to be heard in secret and the defendants to remain anonymous on the grounds of national security, but Lord Justice Gross and two other senior judges ruled that the centuries-old principle of open justice should apply. The judges did rule that the core of the trial could be held in secret, but parts must be made public. The two defendants, previously known as AB and CD, have now been named as Erol Incedal and Mounir Rarmoul-Bouhadjar. “Open justice is both a fundamental principle of the common law and a means of ensuring public confidence in our legal system; exceptions are rare and must be justified on the facts,” said Lord Justice Gross. Leon Glenister, a barrister at Hardwicke Chambers, said that the case appeared to be "a huge infringement on open justice".The Guardian has welcomed the decision, stating that secret courts “undermine the rule of law.”

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