Thatcher

On the 11th February 1975, 36 years ago today, Margaret Thatcher was elected leader of the Conservative Party. She is not someone I particularly have a lot of time for, but under her leadership something happened which gave a boost to human rights and access to justice. It was most probably not something she quite intended, but it changed the way people who had been arrested were treated. This came about with the introduction of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. Even although she repealed the old 'suss' law under the Vagrancy Act 1824, her primary concern was extending police powers, which led to the current stop and search regulations we have today. However, she also added s.58 and 60 which gave detained persons the right to consult privately with a lawyer:

s.58(1) A person arrested and held in custody in a police station or other premises shall be entitled, if he so requests, to consult a solicitor privately at any time. Also under s.60 she introduced the tape recording of interviews, provision of transcripts etc...

The days of being arrested for just looking bad, being 'verballed' and held for indefinite periods of time without access to a lawyer were done.

For some serious offences there were limitations that could be imposed as to access; but, access had to be granted eventually, and if delay was authorised, the detained person had to be informed of the where and why and the reasons recorded in the custody record. Everything had to be recorded. It also led to the creation of a full time, 24/7, duty solicitor scheme.

These sections did cause some annoyance to certain police officers, time spent keeping records and other paperwork, but it helped to keep everybody honest and up to the mark. If someone is arrested and in custody there is nothing wrong with being careful about the liberty of the subject.

And then something happened:

Everybody got scared.

You would be forgiven for thinking that the Terrorism Act under Tony Blair came into force after the twin towers attack, but you would be wrong. It was introduced in 2000, well before 11th September 2001. The Terrorism Act 2000 changed s. 58 with an additional clause (12) Nothing in this section applies to a person arrested or detained under the terrorism provisions.

The Labour Party, which was the first to bring in legislation against terrorism containing lengthy detention provisions without access to legal advice in relation to Norther Ireland's problems, came through again and continued to seek even lengthier periods of detention.

How is it that this party of the left is so bent on curbing civil liberties? One could expect it of the Conservative Party. Indeed one always expect such reactionary legislation from the Conservative Party; however, the complicity of the Labour Party, and Tony Blair in particular, to aligning itself with the United States' covert repressive measures, even before 9/11, is a very sad legacy for liberal subjects in this country. They have a lot to answer for.

Margaret may be everybody's bad poster lady now, but she did do one thing that was pretty good (even if by mistake). Anyone whose liberty is at stake has a statutory right to legal advice. It wasn't so clearly defined until the Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984.