Civil Liberties

Thursday 11th November 2010, Strand Palace - London, 09:30 - 16:00

Civil Liberties: Freedom and Fairness in the 21st Century

Overview

The coalition government believes that the British state has become too authoritarian, and that over the past decade it has abused and eroded fundamental human freedoms and historic civil liberties. In 'The Coalition: Our Programme for Government,' the government outlines its commitment to implement a full programme of measures to reverse the substantial erosion of civil liberties and roll back state intrusion.

In keeping with Britain’s tradition of freedom and fairness, the government will scrap a number of initiatives and programmes implemented by the former government. The government will scrap the ID card scheme, the National Identity register and the ContactPoint database, and halt the next generation of biometric passports.

Furthermore, fitting in with the government’s Big Society agenda which will give citizens, communities and local government the power and information they need to come together, solve the problems they face and build the Britain they want; the government will extend the scope of the Freedom of Information Act to provide greater transparency.

In the Queens Speech, the 'Freedom or Great Repeal Bill' was introduced. The purpose of the Bill is to roll back the state, reducing the weight of government imposition on citizens that has increased in recent years through legislation and centralised programmes. Some of the benefits of the Bill include: introducing new legislation to restrict the scope of the DNA database; ensuring anti-terrorism legislation strikes the right balance between protecting the public, strengthening social cohesion and protecting civil liberties; and protecting privacy by introducing new legislation to regulate the use of CCTV.

The government will also establish a commission to investigate the creation of a British Bill of Rights that incorporates and builds on all our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, ensuring that these rights continue to be enshrined in British law, and protects and extends British liberties.

Agenda

This timely and informative forum will offer stakeholders the opportunity to discuss how we can strengthen the accountability of public bodies as well as examine the new government measures to restore freedoms and civil liberties.

09:30	Registration and Coffee
10:15	Chair's Welcome Address Alice Donald, Senior Research Fellow, Human Rights and Social Justice Research Institute, London Metropolitan University (CONFIRMED)
10:25	Morning Keynote: Restoring Freedoms and Civil Liberties Taking forward the Identity Documents Bill – scrapping identity cards and the national identity register Restore freedoms and civil liberties through the abolition of identity cards and repeal of unnecessary laws Full programme of measures to reverse the substantial erosion of civil liberties and roll back state intrusion Damian Green MP, Minister of State, Home Office (CONFIRMED)
10:40	Freedom of Information Act: Providing Greater Transparency Extending the scope of the Freedom of Information Act to provide greater transparency Strengthening the accountability of bodies receiving public funding in light of lessons learnt so far from the operation of the Freedom of Information Act Challenges of good practice in data management Implications of the Freedom or Great Repeal Bill on public authorities Potential impact of changes to FOI Act and what this will mean for the public sector Graham Smith, Deputy Commissioner and Director of Freedom of Information, Information Commissioner’s Office (CONFIRMED)
11:00	Questions and Answers Session
11:20	Coffee Break and Networking
11:40	CCTV Strategy: Regulating Use, Protecting Privacy Protecting privacy by introducing new legislation to regulate the use of CCTV The need for standards in all aspects of CCTV The need for clear guidelines on registration, inspection and enforcement The police use of CCTV footage and evidence Storage, volume, archiving, retention issues Use of CCTV by police and the criminal justice system (CJS) Garry Parkins, Co-author, National CCTV Strategy (CONFIRMED)
12:00	Creating a Fairer Britain: Some Foundations The Human Rights Act and the protection of civil liberties The Equality Act and fairness Stronger legal protection for privacy John Wadham, Group Director, Legal, Equality and Human Rights Commission (CONFIRMED)
12:20	Questions and Answers Session
12:40	Lunch and Networking
13:40	Protecting the Rights of Children Striking the balance between retaining information and infringing upon children's rights The outlawing of the finger-printing of children at school without parental permission Promoting and protecting the rights and interests of young people Making the voices of children and young people heard Dr. Maggie Atkinson, Children's Commissioner for England, Office of the Children's Commissioner (CONFIRMED)
14:00	The National DNA Database: Next Stages of Reform Introducing new legislation to restrict the scope of the DNA database and to give added protection to innocent people whose samples have been stored Adopting the protections of the Scottish model for the DNA database Home Affairs Committee National DNA Database report; government response Proposals for retaining the DNA of adults Length of time for retaining profiles Removing records from the database Rt Hon Keith Vaz, Chair, Home Affairs Committee (CONFIRMED)
14:20	Securing Public Confidence in Policing Tactics: MPA Civil Liberties Panel Understanding of civil liberties and human rights and the consequences this has for policing MPA Civil Liberties Panel: securing public confidence in policing tactics in the capital and ensuring the Met maintains public trust Civil liberties Panel review of policing public order in London – key recommendations Civil liberties Panel review of the use of DNA within the MPS and the National DNA Database – emerging issues. Victoria Borwick, Chair, MPA Civil Liberties Panel (CONFIRMED)
14:40	Coffee and Networking
15:00	Safeguarding our Civil Liberties Ensuring anti-terrorism legislation strikes the right balance between protecting the public, strengthening social cohesion and protecting civil liberties The future of a British Bill of Rights and the role of the new Commission Restoring the balance of civil Liberties and counter-terrorism powers Striking the right balance between protecting the public, strengthening social cohesion and protecting civil liberties The solution Dr Madsen Pirie, President, Adam Smith Institute (CONFIRMED)
15:20	Special Closing Keynote: From War to Law – Protecting National Security within the Rule of Law The fate of control orders - the worst legislative legacy of the “War on Terror” and an early test for the Coalition Government Additional priorities for the “Freedom Bill” The Human Rights Act – common values that bind in difficult times Isabella Sankey, Policy Director, Liberty (CONFIRMED)
15:40	Questions and Answers Session
16:00	Chairs Closing Remarks and Close

* programme subject to change without notice

Audience

Delegates will include lawyers, legal advisors, human right campaigners, policy managers, heads of equality and diversity, CCTV managers, heads of information compliance, heads of IT, data protection managers, freedom of information compliance managers, community safety managers, counter terrorism managers, councillors, and will be drawn from central government, local authorities, police, health authorities, criminal justice sector, third sector, academia and private sector.