Al Rawi and Others v Security Service and Others

Important decision here by the Court of Appeal affirming the right of litigants to see and hear all the evidence seen and heard by the Court in determining a case.

This appeal arose as a result of litigation against the British Government by Binyam Mohammed and others for false imprisonment, trespass to the person, conspiracy to injure and torture, amongst other things. The government had argued that it was open to a judge, even in the absence of a relevant Statute, to deny the defendants access to some evidence, hearings, and so on - effectively a partially open and partially closed process.

The court held that this was undesirable and contrary to the overriding objective as stated in Part 1.1 CPR.

This judgment seems to uphold the rule of law in the face of recent incursions such as the control order cases under the Terrorism Act. It also underlined the importance of an independent judiciary and the separation of powers, and is a good starting point for discussions with your students on these topics.