Lessons from Turkey: anti-terrorism legislation and the protection of free speech

Explores the extent to which the disclosure and other offences under the Terrorism Act 2000 could restrict effective journalistic reporting, drawing on European Court of Human Rights rulings on Turkish cases involving the right to freedom of expression in a context of political violence. Considers the scope of the ss.12, 19 and 35B offences and the implications of the Turkish cases on the protection afforded by the European Convention on Human Rights 1950 Art.10 to freedom of expression per se and to the conditions necessary for that expression. Notes the European Court's emphasis on the issues of proportionality and the need for prosecutions in a democratic society, and its interpretation of the boundary between incitement and the merely offensive, disturbing or shocking

Public authorities as "victims" under the Human Rights Act

ONE feature of the current debate concerning the term “public authority” in the Human Rights Act 1998 is a rule to the effect that public authorities are not themselves capable of having and enforcing Convention rights. In what follows this will be referred to as the “rights-restriction rule”. The position was confirmed by the House of Lords in Aston Cantlow and has been given effect by the courts in relation to English local authorities and to NHS Trusts in Scotland. Despite this, doubts have been expressed. In particular the parliamentary Joint Committee has suggested, though without argument, that the denial of Convention rights to public authorities may be wrong in principle and that there are “circumstances in which public authorities have Convention rights”

Coleridge's Malta

In 1809 when Coleridge was prompted to write about his time in Malta by the death of Sir Alexander Ball, the late Civil Commissioner whom he so much admired, he recorded that he regarded his stay on the Island as “in many respects the most memorable and instructive period of my life”. As those familiar with Coleridge’s history recall, Coleridge had arrived on Malta in May 1804 predominantly to liberate himself from opium dependency. Coleridge impressed Ball, whom he met shortly after his arrival. Given the staffing problems confronting him, Ball eventually made Coleridge the offer of Edmund Chapman’s post as under-secretary during the latter’s absence from Malta on the speculative corn mission, about which more will be ventured below. After an assurance that the work would be “nominal” Coleridge accepted the post because the salary would defray the expenses of his planned journey to Sicily. Coleridge thus began his official tasks as under-secretary to Ball. However, following the death of the Public Secretary and Treasurer, Alexander Macaulay, on 18th January 1805, Coleridge was appointed as a temporary replacement pending Chapman’s return to the Island, albeit that he declined to act as Treasurer. As Acting Public Secretary he assumed a post second in civil dignity to that of the Civil Commissioner, and found himself at the heart of government. The purpose of this article is to outline the legal, political, administrative and economic challenges encountered by the British administration in the period 1800-1809 in which Coleridge had assumed an important role, as well as to venture some comments about the coherence of British policy. Some limited observations on Coleridge’s contribution to the success of British rule at this time will also be advanced

The British Claim to rule Malta 1800-1813

The question of the nature of the legal authority exercised in Malta by British officials prior to 1813 has been a rich source of debate and controversy. The moment at which the British officials had a legal power to exercise full legislative and executive authority is elusive, despite its prominence as a seminal moment in Maltese constitutional history. Whether legal authority arose because of cession or conquest matters because, as we shall discover, the events on which these alternative possibilities are founded occurred at different times. If, for example, cession explains the legal and constitutional authority of the British Crown in Malta, we need an explanation of the legal source of that authority prior to cession. This is the question upon which this article focuses

A victim’s right to truth and the International Criminal Court (ICC) Summary Project Report

This project seeks to identify and explore the practical and jurisprudential difficulties that may follow from attempting to integrate the ‘right to truth’ into the procedures of the ICC. Its main research question is: what are the central problems, practical and theoretical, of giving effect to victims’ rights to truth in the context of the juristic-forensic approach to transitional justice; specifically - the investigation, trial and remedial procedures of the International Criminal Court

Establishing a communications-intensive network to resolve artificial intelligence issues within NASA's Space Station Freedom research centers community

MITRE Corporation's, A Review of Space Station Freedom Program Capabilities for the Development and Application of Advanced Automation, cites as a critical issue the following situation, extant at the NASA facilities visited in the course of preparing the review: The major issues noted with regard to design and research facilities deal with cooperative problem solving, technology transfer, and communication between these facilities. While the authors were visiting lab and test beds to collect information, personnel at many of these facilities were interested in any information they could collect on activities at other facilities. A formal means of gathering this information could not be identified by these personnel. While communication between some facilities was taking place or was planned, for technology transfer or coordination of schedules (e.g., for SADP demonstrations), poor communication between these facilities could lead to a lack of technical standards, duplication of effort, poorly defined interfaces, scheduling problems, and increased cost. Formal mechanisms by which effective communication and cooperative problem solving can take place, and information can be disseminated, must be defined. A solution is proposed for the communications aspects of the issues addressed above; and offered at the same time a solution which can prove effective in dealing with some of the problems being encountered with expertise being lost via retirement or defection to the private sector. The proffered recommendations are recognizably cost-effective and tap the rising sector of expert knowledge being produced by the American academic community

A Bizarre Anomaly? Rights of Political Participation and the Scottish Independence Referendum: Moohan v Lord Advocate

In Moohan v Lord Advocate the United Kingdom Supreme Court has, in the context of a case challenging the exclusion of convicted prisoners from voting in the Scottish Independence Referendum, confirmed the orthodox view that Article 3 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights does not guarantee rights of participation beyond voting for membership of an established legislature and, specifically, does not extend to voting in referendums. Two strong dissents in the case recognise the democratic weakness of this position and argue that the Strasbourg position is not as absolute as it may seem and that article 3 can properly be interpreted to include referendums in its scope, particularly those which relate to the right of self-determination

The right to a fair hearing

An introduction to major themes of human rights law in the United Kingdom, especailly as given further effect through the Human Rights Act 1998