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GCHQ Does Not Breach Human Rights, Judges Rule
An anonymous reader writes The current system of UK intelligence collection does not currently breach the European Convention of Human Rights, a panel of judges has ruled. A case claiming various systems of interception by GCHQ constituted a breach had been brought by Amnesty, Privacy International and others. It followed revelations by the former US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden about UK and US surveillance practices. But the judges said questions remained about GCHQ's previous activities. Some of the organisations who brought the case, including Amnesty UK and Privacy International, say they intend to appeal the decision to the European Court of Human Rights.
Given that those who make the definition of crimes are the same who are legislating to strip you from your privacy... it's not surprising.
What worries me about the article is that it keeps mentioning the European Convention on Human Rights, but singularly fails to clarify that the IPT is a UK body and not a European one. The whole point of the European court system is to help citizens overturn the decisions of an entrenched national establishment that refuses to police itself. The UK keeps complaining about the EU "interfering" in our laws, but they only do so at the request of British citizens (or less commonly other EU citizens who aren't receiving fair and equal treatment).
Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
Of course, the ones doing the spying are the ones who make the laws. There's no problem at all. Move along, comrade.
Except that in the UK, Judges have the ability to nullify a law if they consider it onerous or wrong, without being specifically asked to look at the law itself.
One of the many reasons I trust the UK judicial system - its very independent of the current Government.
A non-political body called the Judicial Appointments Commission, the 15 members of which include barristers, judges, normal everyday people and legal professionals. The government have no say in appointments, and have no power over the commission - its completely independent.
Just because the law justifies it doesn't mean it's not a crime. Don't make me break out Godwin to prove my point!
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
It should have read "government lawyers help spies lie about violating innocent people's privacy rights."
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."