Tory peer Lord Murray of Blidworth is taking on secretive immigration tribunals, demanding first-tier courts publish rulings on whether foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers remain in the UK. No more two-tier judges operating in the dark…
He’s tabled an amendment to the Border Security Bill that reads:
(1) All judgments of Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) must be published on a Government website within three days of being made.
(2) Judgments published under subsection (1) may be anonymised to the extent considered necessary by the Tribunal.
The amendment is sponsored by Tory peer Lord Jackson of Peterborough and two other Lords. Lord Murray says:
“The first purpose is to enable public scrutiny of the way in which courts decide cases, to hold judges to account for the decisions they make and to enable the public to have confidence that judges are doing their job properly.”
Labour Whip Lord Katz was quick to dismiss the move, claiming: “We see no reason to change it, and we feel that it is not simply a matter of transparency but of independence of the judiciary.” Heard that one before…