Oxford Thinktank and Aspen Institute Investigate Detention without Trial

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday 30 June 2008

In the week that the Counter-Terrorism Bill will go before the House of Lords, the Foundation for Law, Justice and Society, in conjunction with the Aspen Institute, will convene a panel of international experts to investigate detention without trial and the role of the courts in times of crisis. On Monday 7 July at the Aspen institute, Colorado, Professor AWB Simpson will open the conference with a lecture entitled, ‘In the Highest Degree Odious: Detention without Trial in Wartime Britain’, which will examine historical precedents of the controversial proposal to extend pre-charge detention of terrorist suspects for up to 42 days.

Professor Simpson will argue that emergency legislation can lead to the courts abandoning any role in protecting civil liberty, and that, despite the Human Rights Act, there are inherent problems when regular courts become involved in monitoring the activities of security services in times of crisis.

The lecture will open a two-day conference entitled ‘In Times of Crisis, Can We Trust the Courts?’, in which national security and political crises will be discussed by an international panel of experts from law, government, and the military, including Justice Rosalie Abella from the Supreme Court of Canada; Clark Ervin, former Inspector General at the Department of Homeland Security (Bush Administration); Judge Abner Mikva, former Counsel to President Clinton; and David Graham, former Judge Advocate in the US Army.

Further information, including details of the seminar programme and participants, is available at the Foundation for Law, Justice and Society’s website: http://www.fljs.org/NE

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Notes for editors

Lecture:
'In the Highest Degree Odious:  Detention without Trial in Wartime Britain'
Professor Brian Simpson, Professor of Law, Michigan University

6.00 pm, Monday 7th July
Paepcke Auditorium, The Aspen Institute, Aspen, Colorado

Seminar:
'In Times of Crisis Can We Trust the Courts?'
Tuesday 8-Wednesday 9th July

For further information, including details of the seminar programme and participants, please visit the Foundation for Law, Justice and Society’s website at: http://www.fljs.org/NE

The Foundation for Law, Justice and Society is an independent institution affiliated with the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Oxford.

Founded in 2005, the mission of the Foundation is to study, reflect on and promote an understanding of the role that law plays in society. This is achieved by analysing issues of contemporary interest and importance through its three programmes:

• The Social Contract Revisited
• Courts and the Making of Public Policy
• Rule of Law in China: Chinese Law and Business

The Foundation draws on the work of scholars and researchers, and aims to make its work easily accessible to practitioners and professionals, whether in government, business, or the law.
http://www.fljs.org

For more information, please contact Phil Dines, Publications and Communications Manager:
+44 (0)7809 219 543 (mobile)
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phil.dines@fljs.org