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Neil Herron: Will the Terrorism Bill ‘free’ the Metric Martyrs?

Neil Herron:Will the Terrorism Bill ‘free’ the Metric Martyrs?

Press Release: Immediate
Metric Martyrs Defence Fund
12 noon 24th February, 2005

” Will the Terrorism Bill ‘free’ the Metric Martyrs?”

The Government is trampling over the Rights and Liberties of the People…with an unforseen consequence.
Where can liberty turn?
Charles Clarke, a politician and not a judge, is now to make lawful whatever he says is lawful…However,

“NO FREEMAN shall be arrested or detained in prison or deprived of his or outlawed or exiled or in any way molested . . . except by the judgment of his peers.”
Magna Carta, 1215.

If we reference back to Section 62 and 63 of Lord Justice Laws’ Judgment at the Supreme Court of Judicature (Queen’s Bench Division) February 18th 2002, commonly known as the ‘Metric Martyrs’ Judgment (full Judgment here ) we can see…I paraphrase but, in essence…

“We should recognise a hierarchy of Acts of Parliament: as it were “ordinary” statutes and “constitutional statutes”. The special status of constitutional statutes follows the special status of constitutional rights. Examples are the Magna Carta, Bill of Rights 1689 … Ordinary statutes may be impliedly repealed. Constitutional statutes may not…”

Therefore, the Prevention of Terrorism Bill in order to go through Parliament must expressly repeal the relevant section of Magna Carta otherwise, according to the precedent set by Laws, there is no repeal, so no-one can be held or imprisoned without an appearance before a court.
Magna Carta (a ‘constitutional statute’ cannot be repealed by the Prevention of Terrorism Bill, an ‘ordinary’ statute). To debate Magna Carta before the full house and expose the fact that it is every British citizen who will be deprived of a fundamental right is not what the Government will wish to do.

This thrusts the Metric Martyrs right back into the spotlight because we are currently using Lord Justice Laws Judgment against ‘fines and penalties’ imposed by ‘administrative bodies’…unlawful if we apply the Laws Judgment because there is no express repeal of the relevant section of the Bill of Rights 1689 (a ‘constitutional statute) which states:

“That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction are illegal and void”

which would be required for the ‘ordinary’ statute (such as the Road Traffic Act 1991 which ‘decriminalised’ Parking offences) to have force in law. (Press report here)

Metric Martyrs Campaign Director, Neil Herron states, “Whichever route the Government wishes to proceed, one of the two must fall. Either the Metric Martyrs Judgment is correct which will have the effect of no imprisonment of suspected terrorists without trial, and the effect that all ‘administrative ‘fines and penalties ( such as decriminalised parking tickets, late payment penalties by the Inland Revenue and SORN notices by the DVLA) are unlawful; or the Metric Martyrs’ convictions are unsafe. Either way, the Government are backing themselves up a very tight alley and are playing for very, very high stakes the implications of which they have not even considered as they stumble from one constitutional crisis to the next.”