Government's secret justice plans may cost millions

According to human rights organisation, Reprieve, the Government’s own assessment of its plans for secret courts has warned that they could cost an extra £11 million every year, and lead to a “higher risk of potential security breaches.”

The warnings are contained in an Impact Assessment of the Government’s plans to roll out secret proceedings across the civil justice system, buried on an obscure part of the Cabinet Office website – which also states that the plans may lead to “a reduction in confidence in court processes.”

The document was produced by the Government to assess its own policy, the Justice and Security Green Paper, which proposes extending Closed Material Procedures (CMPs) across the civil courts whenever ministers have concerns that “sensitive material might be involved.” Such a move would lead to a massive extension of secrecy in the British justice system, and make it much more difficult to hold the Government to account for a wide range of abuses, such as complicity in rendition and torture.

According to Reprieve, the document states that:
•The introduction of CMPs could have a net cost of as much as £11m each year, since “the savings from [the current system of Public Interest Immunity] are not judged to be significant enough to outweigh the costs of the CMPs over the next decade” (pp19, 27)
•Introduction of CMPs may lead to a “Higher risk of potential security breaches due to a larger number of individuals accessing sensitive information [and] any potential breaches may impose substantial costs to UK security.” (p12)
•The proposals may “[lead] to resentment or a reduction in confidence in court processes” (p2) “and unwillingness to participate in jury service” (p11).