PILA Bulletin: 14 September 2010
The former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Tom Bingham has died aged 76. He was widely regarded as a strong defender of human rights who firmly rejected many of the draconian anti-terrorist measures introduced by the Blair government, in particular the indefinite detention of suspected terrorists and the use of evidence obtained by torture. On leaving the bench he criticised the Iraq invasion in 2003 as "a serious violation of international law and of the rule of law". This is a one item PILA bulletin to note the passing of this distinguished, humane and innovative judge.
Below are some of his quotes, both judicial and extra-judicial.
On judicial independence: "...there are countries in the world where all judicial decisions find favour with the powers that be, but they are probably not places where any of us would wish to live...."
On the Human Rights Act and the judiciary: "...the function of independent judges charged to interpret and apply the law is universally recognised as a cardinal feature of the modern democratic state, a cornerstone of the rule of law itself. The Attorney General is fully entitled to insist on the proper limits of judicial authority, but he is wrong to stigmatise judicial decision-making as in some way undemocratic. The 1998 Act gives the courts a very specific, wholly democratic, mandate...." Please click here for this judgment.
On the rule of law: "...it is on observance of the rule of law that the quality of government depends...it remains an ideal, but an ideal worth striving for...."
On asylum seekers and the European Convention on Human Rights: "...I have no doubt that the threshold may be crossed if a late applicant with no means and no alternative sources of support, unable to support himself, is, by the deliberate action of the state, denied shelter, food or the most basic necessities of life. It is not necessary that treatment, to engage article 3, should merit the description used, in an immigration context, by Shakespeare and others in Sir Thomas More when they referred to "your mountainish inhumanity"...." Please click here for this judgment.
To read a tribute by Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty, please click here.
To read a tribute by Philippe Sands QC of Matrix Chambers in the Guardian, please click here.
Readers may also be interested in the following books: the "Rule of Law", Tom Bingham, Allen Lane, 2010; and "Tom Bingham and the Transformation of the Law, a Liber Amicorum", Andenas & Fargrieve, Oxford University Press, 2009.