Government given secret courts all-clear

THE Court of Appeal has cleared the way for the Government to apply for controversial secret court hearings as it faces being sued for damages by an IRA informant and Iranians subjected to asset-freezing orders.

The court rejected challenges to the legality of new powers that enable Government ministers to defend themselves against damages claims while using secret hearings to prevent “sensitive material” said to relate to national security being revealed in evidence in open court.

What are known as closed material procedures (CMPs) – in which evidence is given with claimants and the public barred from court – were introduced by the 2013 Justice and Security Act.

Critics have condemned the closed hearings as “a serious aberration from the tradition of open justice’’.

But a total of five judges have unanimously agreed the secret hearings are lawful, provided they are “scruti- nised with care” and discontinued if they become “no longer in the interests of the fair and effective administration of justice”.

The two cases in the landmark r uling include a damages claim being brought against Home Secretary Theresa May by IRA mole Martin McGartland.

A former agent of the Royal Ulster Constabulary Special Branch, the informant claims the security services failed to provide him with care for post-traumatic stress disorder and access to disability benefits after he was shot by the IRA and left unable to work.

Mr McGartland, 43, and his partner and carer Joanne Asher are suing MI5 for breach of contract and negligence over the “mishandling” of his case.

His lawyers contend Mr McGartland’s claim for damages for personal injury does not pose a risk to national security and will not expose any aspect of his undercover work as an informant against the IRA.