That is a good question. We like to hold our justice system up as an example to the world, yet if we go down this route, we will fundamentally undermine some of the principles of British justice that we have rightly been proud of for many years, and people around the world will look on with genuine shock.
Last week, more than 700 figures from the legal profession, including 40 QCs, had a letter published in the Daily Mail—not a newspaper that I have often
quoted in the Chamber—stating that the proposals in the Bill to allow a huge extension of court hearings behind closed doors would
“erode core principles of our civil justice system”.
They argued that if the Government’s changes were allowed to go ahead, they would
“fatally undermine the court room as an independent and objective forum in which allegations of wrongdoing can be fairly tested and where the Government can be transparently held to account.”
The proposals, they concluded, were “dangerous and unnecessary”.
The Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice also has serious concerns about the Bill’s provisions relating to closed material procedures in certain civil proceedings, and the Scottish Government have concluded that they are
“unable to support any extension—under any circumstances—of the Bill into devolved areas.”