What can they say?
Is there more the police can tell us about the suspects they arrest?
How much does the public need to know about the background of suspected criminals? Might averting public disorder risk prejudicing future trials?
Senior politicians have been offering us their thoughts since the weekend. Meanwhile, the Law Commission has been working on some reasoned proposals.
My own analysis of the issues appears in today’s Telegraph.
A reminder that you can buy an annual subscription to A Lawyer Writes for £40 this week — either for yourself or as a gift. On Sunday, the yearly rate will return to £50, the fee I set when I launched this Substack five years ago. For advice on how to upgrade a monthly subscription to an annual one, click here. And click here if you would like to buy a gift subscription. One benefit of a paid subscription is the opportunity to post comments on pieces I write.
Joshua has told me that he will post updates when he considers them relevant but although he covered the allegations against Karim Khan prosecutor at the ICC extensively he has so far failed to cover the troubling reports in Le Monde about the pressures on the court not to sanction Benjamin Netanyahu and in particular the allegations by Lieutenant Cayley .
It may be that he hasn't seen the allegations in Le Monde but in the interest of balance and informing the readership I am sharing them here
https://archive.is/hUcnVv
"The US imposed sanctions on four judges and the chief prosecutor, the British national Karim Khan, while threats, intrigue, and pressure from Washington mounted on state parties. The objective: to annul and prevent any arrest warrants against Israelis, including those targeting Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, issued on November 21, 2024, and to close the ongoing investigation into crimes committed on Palestinian territory.
"It was the worst few months of my life," British lawyer Andrew Cayley told Le Monde. The sexagenarian had served at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and in the Cambodian Extraordinary Chambers judging Khmer Rouge leaders. Now, he is in charge of overseeing case ICC-01/18 alongside Brenda Hollis, an American former US Air Force member. The case covers crimes committed by Israelis in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, as well as those perpetrated by Hamas, including hostage-taking, on October 7, 2023, in southern Israel. It is the most sensitive case before the ICC.
In December 2024, five months after an initial warning from Dutch intelligence, Lieutenant Cayley a former military prosecutor, received a direct threat: "I was directly threatened, and I was told that I was an enemy of the state of Israel and I needed to watch my back."
I am disappointed that as as a subscriber to your blog I have to pay again to read your latest piece as it appears in another news (soi disant) outlet. John