Parliament — Too Secret To Report On
In a move that’s in direct conflict with the 1688 BIll of Rights guaranteeing the unrestricted reporting of parliament (“[t]hat the Freedome of Speech and Debates or Proceedings in Parlyament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any Court or Place out of Parlyament”), the Guardian today was gagged by a high court injunction from reporting parliamentary proceedings.
Fortunately, the Guardian is able to tell us who the lawyers for the plaintif were. They’re Carter-Ruck, who just so happen to be mentioned in the list of Parliamentary Questions for Wednesday 14th October.
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NPaul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme): To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of legislation to protect (a) whistleblowers and (b) press freedom following the injunctions obtained in the High Court by (i) Barclays and Freshfields solicitors on 19 March 2009 on the publication of internal Barclays reports documenting alleged tax avoidance schemes and (ii) Trafigura and Carter-Ruck solicitors on 11 September 2009 on the publication of the Minton report on the alleged dumping of toxic waste in the Ivory Coast, commissioned by Trafigura. (293006)
Thanks to @handelaar, and Richard Wilson for pointing this out.