I had interviewed plenty of senior police officers and politicians in the past, but never a human rights lawyer. That is one reason why I was especially pleased to arrange an interview with Carl Buckley, an experienced member of Guernica 37, a Barristers’ Chambers with a specialism in dealing with conflict-related international crime, international public law, and domestic cases with a human rights focus.
Last year, a petition was submitted by Carl Buckley to the UN Special Procedures Branch, requesting that they investigate issues of detention of female prisoners during the COVID restrictions. The measures, which are part of the Government’s pandemic response, are putting women behind bars at risk, the petition alleges. ‘It was a very real concern, and this is not limited to the female estate,’ Carl begins. ‘Being locked behind a door for 23 and a half hours a day, all under the guise of attempting to keep a person safe, is nonsense. It does more harm than good and is de-facto solitary confinement.’ There will be ‘negative effects for anybody’ regardless of a person’s physical or mental state, Carl Buckley insists. ‘For an individual that is vulnerable, suffering from mental health problems at whatever level, that is only going to be exacerbated further. There wasn’t enough resources committed to the inmates, and that was perhaps the motivation behind the petition.’
The recent Government Bill, known as the Police and Crime Bill, has not been popular with the masses due to its criminalising of protests deemed a ‘public nuisance’. That has prompted widely reported ‘Kill The Bill’ protests in cities including London and Bristol. ‘Any steps taken to restrict or reduce the fundamental democratic right to protest is a threat to everybody’s civil liberties,’ Carl states. ‘It’s literally that simple. The freedom to protest and the freedom to exercise our voice and disagreement with those who govern us is one of the fundamental foundations upon which any democracy is built, and any attempt to restrict that right is a serious concern.’ The right to protest is restricted in some countries, including Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. ‘We are not putting ourselves in good company,’ Carl Buckley says. ‘We should hold ourselves out as the example of democracy, as a bastion of human rights with respect for those human rights, and yet in the same vein we are looking to implement legislation which restricts our own citizens’ civil liberties. I find that to be a serious concern.’
‘I’m a believer in the idea that you can’t complain about something if you don’t try and change it,’ Carl Buckley says firmly. ‘And for a long while, we were seeing complaints about unpaid internships, which rule a significant portion of students because they can’t afford to work for free. We see complaints that internships tend to be London-centric, which is understandable because that is where the major firms and groups are,’ he adds. The result, the Guernica Academy, is a platform aimed at providing practical experience and guidance to graduates of law. ‘We decided to ensure that people who are from low socio-economic backgrounds, and those who cannot afford to do unpaid work for a period of time, or those who are studying and living outside of London, are still given the opportunity to embark on and enjoy an internship and get the relevant and necessary experience that they need.’
‘We have justified heightened tensions, and, justifiably, emotions were running high because of what happened to Sarah Everard, and indeed what happens every day, as far as women are concerned,’ Carl comments. A Metropolitan Police officer has been charged with the kidnap and murder of 33-year-old marketing executive Sarah Everard. ‘This is a tragic and awful example, but Sarah Everard is not on her own. This happens to women every single day.’ I ask whether the timing of the Police and Crime Bill was inappropriate given the issues raised by the Everard case. ‘I think it was ill thought out to announce this legislation when there was already going to be protests about women’s rights. To then inflame those tensions further, well, it was a curious decision at best. Those in power did not think this through.’
Prior to the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, 49 MPs argued in a letter that Brexit would remove existing avenues of protection and leave women in the UK more vulnerable to abuse. Experts are now reflecting on pre-Brexit predictions, such as this one. ‘I don’t think people truly understood the effect of Brexit,’ Carl Buckley says. ‘We have been part of the European Union for that long now that we were inextricably linked to everything that the EU stands for, not just on trade but its approach to various elements of life. I don’t think that people truly understood just how far this country was linked to Europe and the effect that it would have outside of the trade issue.’ On whether Brexit affects women’s rights, Carl takes the view that previous efforts were insufficient. ‘I don’t necessarily think that withdrawing from the European Union affects our position on that, because the fact as we have it is that we haven’t done enough anyway. The reality of the matter is, whether we are part of the European Union or outside of it, we have a massive amount more work to do.’
Elliot Tyler 