Justice Secretary rapped for saying sex-accused VIPs should not be named
THE Justice Secretary has been slapped down by Downing Street for suggesting celebrities and politicians suspected of sex offences should not be named.
Robert Buckland claimed that anyone questioned over serious crimes such as rape or fraud should remain anonymous until they are charged – but only if they have a reputation to protect.
It would protect the rich and famous from false accusations wrecking their careers, and innocent victims of smears such as Sir Cliff Richard and DJ Paul Gambaccini have long been campaigning for blanket anonymity for anyone accused of sex offences.
But No10 was quick to insist that the controversial move is not going to happen.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “This isn’t departmental policy.”
And lawyers warned it risked creating a two-tier system of justice where the powerful and high-profile figures are spared being named and shamed while ordinary people are not.
'ALIENATING THOSE WHO AREN'T RICH AND FAMOUS'
Ed Grange, partner at criminal defence law firm Corker Binning, said: “The thought that such anonymity would only apply to those that have a reputation to protect would risk alienating those who are not rich and famous who find themselves caught up in the criminal justice system.
“It is not only celebrities who have reputations to preserve.”
Mr Buckland, a top criminal barrister himself, had raised the idea in a newspaper interview, saying: “Let’s say you are a reputable local business person who is accused of fraud.
"Your good name is going to be really undermined by this mere accusation. That might be a meritorious case for anonymity.”
The Sun says
THE new Justice Secretary hasn’t made a brilliant start.
Calling for celebs and the rich to be given anonymity when they’re arrested is simply wrong-headed.
Not only does it effectively create one justice system for the great and good and one for everybody else, but it could mean witnesses don’t come forward.
We’ve seen case after case where, once a suspect is named, other victims have broken their self-imposed silence.
And above all that, it’s only when justice is open and transparent that the public — and the media — can hold the police and the CPS to account.
Both have made horrible errors over and over again in high-profile cases; if cases were just anonymous files making their way through the system, those flaws would never be exposed.
We have sympathy with those wrongly accused. But anonymity isn’t the answer.
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But he went on: “Let’s say you are a person with a list of previous convictions.
"There is intelligence out there that suggests that other victims might come forward. Is that a case where anonymity should be automatic?”
Ian Murray of the Society of Editors said: “It is absurd to suggest that in a liberal democracy we are going to create a system of justice that enables the rich, the powerful, and celebrities to be protected when they are under investigation for serious crimes but the ordinary man or woman would be offered no such protections.”
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