The Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill (CJLB)
CJLB Background
Planning for the future fight
Planning for the future fight
An individual unrelated to CAAN is attempting to get Section 34 (the extreme porn section) of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill referred to the Supreme Court. Unlike England, bills passed in the Scottish parliament can be referred to the Supreme Court to ensure they're compatible with human rights legislation. There are 3 people who can do that in the first instance; The Lord Advocate, the Advocate General and (strangely enough) the Attorney General of England and Wales. Failing that it's also open to an Appeal Court to refer the matter to the Supreme Court, and if they refuse an appellant can even seek permission from the Supreme Court to refer the matter to them directly.
The bad news is that it all has to be done within about 4 weeks of a bill being passed, before it receives Royal Assent. As the Justice Committee has now reported on section 34 without challenging it to any extent, it's as good a time as any to make the initial move to get a referral. It largely depends on the integrity of the 3 officers mentioned above; particularly the Lord Advocate who gives legal advice to the Scottish Government, because asking to ensure the legality of a controversial act is not such an unreasonable request.
So if there are any Scots willing to keep up the fight I would appreciate it if they could add their letters to my own. The more requests for a referral the better our chances. All I'm doing at this stage is writing to the 3 law officers mentioned, including a copy of Rabinder Singh's legal opinion to give the request some weight(see the Backlash website for that). It's probably best to base any letter around his legal arguments and be sure to mention the Scottish Government's lack of justification for the legislation; there really has been absolutely none and that is a weakness if it wishes to derogate human rights.
The addresses:
Lord Advocate, The Rt Hon Elish Angiolini QC, Crown Office, 25 Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1LA
Advocate General for Scotland, Lord Davidson of Glen Clova QC, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6Q
Attorney General, Baroness Scotland, Attorney General's Office, 20 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0NF
If those approaches fail it would need to be taken to an Appeal Court (Inner House of the Court of Session) and although an individual can do that his/herself it would probably be best done with the assistance of an advocate. So if there are any advocates here your help could be invaluable.
To the best of my knowledge the human rights aspects of the extreme porn legislation has yet to be settled. This may be a long shot but if it went to the Supreme Court and they ruled against the Scottish Act it would be busted in England as well. Worth a few letters don't you think?
CAAN is interested in meeting with people with experience in these sorts of legal matters. Please contact us to get in touch. If you do not have experience in these sorts of legal matters, we may have to pay someone who does, so your donations are appreciated.