justice Archives - ACOMSDave

Retrospective Justice

04/07/2017 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

When I read this article, and also subsequent articles from other journalists, I was of a mind that it is what government does – changes the goal posts to suit it needs – in this case retrospective justice. However, during my research, I was taken to the following publication ‘The legislative sovereignty of the Westminster Parliament‘ and the following quote

Each Parliament is absolutely sovereign in its own time and may legislate as it wishes on any topic and for any place

also

Parliament has the power to legislate retrospectively as well as prospectively. This means that Parliament can render illegal and impose penalties on actions which were perfectly lawful when they were committed. Also, actions which were unlawful at the time of commission, may be rendered lawful or not subject to any legal sanction or proceedings.

So the end result would seem to be, that governments are unique, and resolve their issues in their own way, without necessarily having to conform to what previous governments have said. However, legislation is still legislation, and it would seem to me that for an integral part of a published Act of Parliament to be changed, then it must be debated in the House and agreed by both Houses. The Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 set the relevant date as being 1 January 2014, not 2017; so we must only assume from this change that ‘someone’ has something to hide.

Skating on thin ice – Retrospective Justice

So an end to donation secrecy in Northern Ireland. It’s been long awaited, but today James Brokenshire made good his party’s promise in their Northern Irish manifesto… From Hansar…

Source: End of donor secrecy (flick of a legislative wand and NI ‘dark money’ is a thing of the past)…

Equality or Freedom of Expression?

02/02/2016 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Editorial

This morning Jeff Dudgeon along with MIckey Murray were interviewed on ‘Good Morning Ulster‘ (click the link for the discussion which starts about 2hr 12 minutes into the programme) in relation to a statement issued by Peter Thatchell regarding his current thoughts on the Asher Cake case, which is being reviewed as we speak.

The interview lasts about 8 minutes, and in the main followed lines previously discussed. However I believe we all have our own opinion, and also because of the review ruling due from the courts which as Jeff, indicated the judgement will probably be looking at the following points of law:

Freedom of Expression etc.
Equality

we should await the judgement.

I will draw the attention of everyone to the following extract taken from an artile on the ifex website:

“The Camden Principles demonstrate that the rights to equality and freedom of expression go hand-in-hand and mutually reinforce each other, and that neither one of these indispensable human rights can be achieved at the expense of the other,” says Dr Agnès Callamard, ARTICLE 19 Executive Director. “They uphold the key principles of universality and indivisibility where too many have tried to impose exceptions and hierarchy.”

ARTICLE 19 launches the Camden Principles on Freedom of Expression and Equality

Justice?

12/01/2016 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Editorial:

The definition of justice varies from individual, to individual, depending upon what has happened, how it has affected that individual, and also on how it has affected the societal group that he or she belongs to.

The Law Dictionary defines justice as:

“Protecting rights and punishing wrongs using fairness. It is possible to have unjust laws, even with fair and proper administration of the law of the land as a way for all legal systems to uphold this ideal.”

Law Dictionary: What is JUSTICE? definition of JUSTICE (Black’s Law Dictionary)

So you are probably asking why I am discussing this topic, and as you can probably guess it is because of an article written in one of our daily newspapers, in this case The Telegraph: ‘The Church, the police and the unholy destruction of Bishop Bell’
I have to state that I have no knowledge of Bishop Bell, or of the case that is outlined in the news article, indeed in terms of religion I am an atheist – but open to discussion. My problem with religion is that man is involved, and to often man has used religion as a means to elevate themselves above the ordinary being.
So to get back to the article; Charles Moore, the writer of the article writes critically on how it appears that church in an attempt of heading off bad publicity, has decided that Bishop Bell is ‘guilty’ of a sexual crime without there having been a court case to assess the evidence. Indeed the Church has gone even further, in that it has demoted Bishop Bell, flowers placed on his memorial in the cathedral are removed, and what was the ‘George Bell house’ (a centre for vocation, education and reconciliation) is to be renamed shortly.
The fact that the church has jumped in with both feet, instead of following the due process of law, is why I have an argument with the Church.

The key legal principle – the presumption of innocence – is being set aside’

I would urge you to read the article, to then to read the article ‘Police State UK: The Rights You Didn’t Know You’d Lost’ written by Scriptonite / March 19, 2013

I believe in justice, but justice must be seen to be done fairly and without favour to one side or the other. I will leave you with the last paragraph from Charles Moore’s article…

Justice is not guaranteed by passionate feeling against a particular, horrible crime such as child abuse. It depends absolutely on proper process. When public bodies set that process aside, what trust or “transparency” is left? If Bishop Bell had been a Nazi war criminal, the charges against him would have had to reach a far higher standard of proof than those by which the Church of England has destroyed him. The restoration of justice should be its New Year resolution.