Judge's nod illegal
01 January 1991
Judge's nod illegal
artdoc Feb=1996
The High Court emphasised the importance of judicial independence
and reasoning in cases involving the liberty of the subject, in
overruling a search warrant granted to Customs & Excise officials
þon the nodþ by a judge at Southwark crown court. Judge Martineau
was asked to issue a warrant under the Criminal Justice
(International Cooperation) Act 1990 to allow Customs & Excise
to seize documents from a firm of accountants suspected of
money-laundering by US authorities. The request for the warrant
was backed by the Home Secretary. The High Court held that in the
fifteen minutes the application took, the judge could not
possibly have read the papers, analysed the requirements for a
legal warrant and satisfied himself that they were read. He
should not have taken the request at face value and should have
given reasons for his decision. R v Southwark Crown Court and HM
Customs & Excise, ex parte Sorsky Defries, Independent, 15.9.95.
Amnesty International þpoliticalþ: Amnesty International British
Section lost its battle to be allowed to advertise on the radio
when the High Court ruled in July that its objectives were mainly
political. When Amnesty decided to run a campaign about Rwanda
and Burundi, the Radio Authority refused its advertisement on the
ground that demands such as freeing of prisoners of conscience,
a fair trial for political prisoners and the abolition of the
death penalty were political. The High Court ruled that the
decision was not unreasonable and could not therefore be
challenged. R v Radio Authority ex p Amnesty International
British Section, Independent, 1.8.95
Private prison firm investigated: The US based private security
company, Wackenhut Corrections Corporation (WCC), that runs
Doncaster Prison is being investigated by police in Texas for
alleged misuse of public funds. The investigation centres around
the misuse of $700,000 allocated for drug treatment programmes,
but which - according to auditors - was used for þunallowable
petty cash expenses' such as holidays. The allegations have
already led the Canadian prison authorities to suspend a contract
for WCC to build and run a jail for young offenders. The British
prison authorities have stated that they see no reason to
reconsider WCCs contract to run Doncaster Prison. Independent on
Sunday 17.9.95.