Secret trial
 Secret trial    | |
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| Interest of | Saleyha Ahsan |
| Characteristic of dictatorships, already happening in the UK, coming soon to a nation state near you...? | |
The notion of "secret trials" is still understood to be characteristic of dictatorships. Nevertheless, under the pretext of the "War on Terror", it is being introduced for terrorism trials. More nation states are expected to follow introducing them on grounds of "national security".
UK
The UK has been leading the world in this characteristic of Police Corruption.
2008
In 2008, parts of a murder trial were held in secret at the Old Bailey on grounds of "national security" - but the defendant was named and large parts of the case were heard in public.[1]
R v Incedal and Rarmoul-Bouhadjar (2014)
In October 2014, the most secret trial since World War Two was held in the UK, termed by the BBC a "unique case". The Crown Prosecution Service had argued that - for undisclosed "national security" reasons - the trial might have to held completely in secret, or not at all. In the event, large parts were held in secret. A few hand picked journalists were admitted into several sessions - but were expressly prohibited from reporting them.[2]
