Helena Kennedy KC, a renowned criminal lawyer in the UK and a Labour peer, has drawn parallels between the UK government’s actions against the legal profession and the strategies employed by authoritarian regimes.
In her capacity as the President of Council at the law reform and human rights charity, Justice, Kennedy emphasized that the findings of their report, which identifies threats to the rule of law, are non-political and represent shared concerns across the political spectrum.
Kennedy noted that attacks on lawyers and judges are a common tactic used by authoritarian regimes to undermine accountability and public confidence in the legal system. She stated, “The first thing that authoritarians do is they go after judges that make decisions that they don’t like. They go after journalists, they go after any of their critics, whether it’s [Alexei] Navalny (in Russia) or it’s in Turkey or in Iran, they go after lawyers and they end up jailing lawyers and undermining public confidence in lawyers. And so we should recognize that as one part of the story of how law is undermined and respect for law is undermined. It’s about denying accountability.”
Justice’s report, published recently, highlights a concerning trend in the UK over the past five years, characterized by derogatory remarks targeting lawyers, such as “lefty lawyer” and “activist lawyer.” These remarks have been in response to government defeats in legal cases and criticism of lawyers challenging immigration policies.
Kennedy emphasized that undermining respect for the law through such insults and abuses ultimately impacts the rule of law. She stated, “What we’re seeing in the insults and abuses of our judiciary – that unelected judges are making decisions – we want unelected judges at one stage removed to be able to make judgments about what is right and what is the appropriate use of power and about who is abusing it and who are abusers of the rules of our society.”
The report by Justice calls for the protection of judicial independence and the legal profession and urges the government to reject the use of inflammatory language against them. Kennedy pointed out that concerns about these issues extend beyond political affiliations and are shared by lawyers who believe in the rule of law.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson responded by stating, “Everyone is entitled to representation whatever their case or their cause. We have always been clear that no lawyer should suffer harassment or abuse for doing their job.”