The Mohamed judgment

Here it is. I think it’s a good judgment, and I’m glad I was cautious last night about joining the chorus of outrage: it does not seem obvious to me that justice requires the 25-line summary of evidence the judges have referred to be made public regardless of American concerns about secrecy. Binyam Mohamed I think has the disclosure he needs for the purposes of his habeas corpus application and to enable him to sue the British government for its alleged role in his treatment; and the Attorney General is considering prosecutions on the basis of the secret evidence. Had publication been necessary to ensure a fair trial I might have taken a different stance, but in these circumstances publication would be made simply for its own sake – I’m not sure it’s right for a British court to decide to do that rather than leave it to the Obama administration and the American courts to decide.

However: this puts a lot of pressure on Baroness Scotland, who so far has managed to avoid the troubles that dogged her predecessor and radical reform of her role. I think a decision not to commence prosecutions would cause her a great deal of difficulty, and call the role of the Attorney into question yet again.

Thanks to Liadnan for pointing me to the judgment.