Legal action over Russian interference
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NEW : We are taking our case to the European Court of Human Rights because we have been refused a hearing here. Now more than ever the UK must redefine its relationship with Putin’s Russia and defend the integrity of our election.
We launched this landmark legal action in response to the government’s failure to act on the findings of the Russia Report, published by the Intelligence and Security Committee in July 2020, which reported credible evidence of attempts by Russia to interfere with the UK’s electoral processes. We have not been granted permission for judicial review, we are have not been granted the right to appeal this decision.
Our cross-party group of MPs and peers are now taking this to the European Court of Human Rights to challenge the UK Government’s failure to investigate Russian interference in UK electoral processes.
“As President Putin wages a war of terror on the Ukrainian people, he’s been waging another war on the very principles of democracy. The Russia Report is clear that there is credible evidence of Russian interference in UK electoral process – and yet our government has consistently refused to investigate these serious conclusions… We now have no other option than to take our case to the European Court of Human Rights, in order to try to force the Government to undertake a full investigation into the evidence, or else we jeopardise the free and fair elections we hold dear and allow Putin to believe that, once again, he can get away with hostile state interference in our democratic processes,” said Caroline Lucas MP.
The parliamentary group which is bringing the action includes Ben Bradshaw MP, Caroline Lucas MP, Alyn Smith MP, Lord Strasburger and Baroness Wheatcroft. They claim the government is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 3, Protocol 1) which requires regular, free, secret-ballot elections which “ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people”.
The Russia Report declared Russian interference in the UK “the new normal” and reported credible attempts to interfere with the UK’s electoral processes from at least the time of the EU referendum in 2016. The Intelligence and Security Committee called for an investigation and an updated legal and institutional framework to protect those processes from foreign interference.
When the government failed to act on these recommendations, the cross-parliamentary group joined forces with non-profit journalism organisation the Citizens to file an application for judicial review in August 2020.
Lord Strasburger said: “For some time it has been obvious that Putin has infiltrated the British establishment and our government. Predictably Boris Johnson delayed publication of the Russia Report as long as he could and then ignored its excellent recommendations. Likewise he declined to tackle the tsunami of dirty money the Russian oligarchs have been allowed to launder in London and only moved against them when the Ukraine crisis meant he had no choice. Even then he did as little as he could get away with and gave the oligarchs ample time to spirit their assets out of the country. It’s high time to deal with this vipers’ nest and hopefully this legal action will lead to full exposure.”
Alyn Smith MP said: “This case remains important, as it still staggers me that we are having to take legal action to force the UK government to properly protect democracy from dubious interference. I'm glad the cross-party group remains resolute and united in our resolve to see this through.”
Please support us in this vital action.
Details of the background on this important legal action and our Appeal to the UK Courts are below.
Is the British government denying us of our legal right to a free and fair election? We intend to find out.
This legal challenge is a last resort. Boris Johnson's government is refusing to take the unequivocal recommendations of parliament's own Intelligence and Security Committee that it says are essential to protect our national security. It is refusing to even answer questions on the matter.
The legal challenge
We are initiating legal action against Boris Johnson's government for failure to investigate foreign state interference in the UK's democratic process.
The Citizens has joined forces with a cross-party group of MPs and peers to send a pre-action letter asking the government why it has refused to investigate Russian interference in our elections even though its own Intelligence and Security Committee insists is essential for our national security.
Alongside Chris Bryant (Labour), Lord Strasburger (Lib Dem), Alyn Smith (SNP), Caroline Lucas (Green) and Ben Bradshaw (Labour) & Baroness Wheatcroft (ex-Conservative) we have written to the government asking a set of questions. The government now has two weeks to respond. If it fails to give us a full and open response to these inquiries, we plan to take legal action and seek a judicial review.
Under article 3 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights we have the Right to a Free Election. This is an absolute right. And we believe that we are being denied this by the government's failure to:
- investigate foreign state interference in the UK's democratic process;
and/or
- have a legal framework which provides the conditions to ensure the free expression of the people in the choice of the legislature.
"The outrage isn't that there was interference. The outrage is that no one wanted to know if there was interference".
Kevan Jones MP member of the UK Intelligence and Security Committee
Over the coming months we will continue to investigate, report and produce content that explains the facts - looking behind the smoke and mirrors. We will pursue justice for our democracy through the courts.
We hope you will join us and support this case. It is essential that keep the pressure on the government. We need to protect our future elections. We need the truth.
Our legal team
We are working with Tessa Gregory and Tom Short of Leigh Day solicitors and our counsel team consists of Ben Jaffey, QC, of Blackstone Chambers, Richard Hermer, of Matrix Chambers, and Natasha Simonsen of Blackstone Chambers.
We need your help to protect our democracy and we need legitimate funds from the public to make sure we can do this in an accountable and transparent way. Funds will primarily be used for legal fees, anything left over will be used for additional investigation and public engagement.
We must protect the democracy so many fought to give us, and preserve it for future generations. Please help us.
The Citizens is a non profit UK company limited by guarantee. We are a transatlantic community dedicated to protecting democracy from data-driven disinformation.
Our core mission is to hold big tech, political parties and government to account through evidence-based reporting, creative storytelling and citizen activation.
We are funded by grants from foundations, donations from the public - and philanthropists.
We run a range of projects to raise public awareness about issues affecting democracy, empower citizens to act, and hold power to account through investigations and litigations. Our work is for the public benefit.
https://the-citizens.com
We launched this landmark legal action in response to the government’s failure to act on the findings of the Russia Report, published by the Intelligence and Security Committee in July 2020, which reported credible evidence of attempts by Russia to interfere with the UK’s electoral processes. We have not been granted permission for judicial review, we are have not been granted the right to appeal this decision.
Our cross-party group of MPs and peers are now taking this to the European Court of Human Rights to challenge the UK Government’s failure to investigate Russian interference in UK electoral processes.
“As President Putin wages a war of terror on the Ukrainian people, he’s been waging another war on the very principles of democracy. The Russia Report is clear that there is credible evidence of Russian interference in UK electoral process – and yet our government has consistently refused to investigate these serious conclusions… We now have no other option than to take our case to the European Court of Human Rights, in order to try to force the Government to undertake a full investigation into the evidence, or else we jeopardise the free and fair elections we hold dear and allow Putin to believe that, once again, he can get away with hostile state interference in our democratic processes,” said Caroline Lucas MP.
The parliamentary group which is bringing the action includes Ben Bradshaw MP, Caroline Lucas MP, Alyn Smith MP, Lord Strasburger and Baroness Wheatcroft. They claim the government is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 3, Protocol 1) which requires regular, free, secret-ballot elections which “ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people”.
The Russia Report declared Russian interference in the UK “the new normal” and reported credible attempts to interfere with the UK’s electoral processes from at least the time of the EU referendum in 2016. The Intelligence and Security Committee called for an investigation and an updated legal and institutional framework to protect those processes from foreign interference.
When the government failed to act on these recommendations, the cross-parliamentary group joined forces with non-profit journalism organisation the Citizens to file an application for judicial review in August 2020.
Lord Strasburger said: “For some time it has been obvious that Putin has infiltrated the British establishment and our government. Predictably Boris Johnson delayed publication of the Russia Report as long as he could and then ignored its excellent recommendations. Likewise he declined to tackle the tsunami of dirty money the Russian oligarchs have been allowed to launder in London and only moved against them when the Ukraine crisis meant he had no choice. Even then he did as little as he could get away with and gave the oligarchs ample time to spirit their assets out of the country. It’s high time to deal with this vipers’ nest and hopefully this legal action will lead to full exposure.”
Alyn Smith MP said: “This case remains important, as it still staggers me that we are having to take legal action to force the UK government to properly protect democracy from dubious interference. I'm glad the cross-party group remains resolute and united in our resolve to see this through.”
Please support us in this vital action.
Details of the background on this important legal action and our Appeal to the UK Courts are below.
Is the British government denying us of our legal right to a free and fair election? We intend to find out.
This legal challenge is a last resort. Boris Johnson's government is refusing to take the unequivocal recommendations of parliament's own Intelligence and Security Committee that it says are essential to protect our national security. It is refusing to even answer questions on the matter.
The legal challenge
We are initiating legal action against Boris Johnson's government for failure to investigate foreign state interference in the UK's democratic process.
The Citizens has joined forces with a cross-party group of MPs and peers to send a pre-action letter asking the government why it has refused to investigate Russian interference in our elections even though its own Intelligence and Security Committee insists is essential for our national security.
Alongside Chris Bryant (Labour), Lord Strasburger (Lib Dem), Alyn Smith (SNP), Caroline Lucas (Green) and Ben Bradshaw (Labour) & Baroness Wheatcroft (ex-Conservative) we have written to the government asking a set of questions. The government now has two weeks to respond. If it fails to give us a full and open response to these inquiries, we plan to take legal action and seek a judicial review.
Under article 3 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights we have the Right to a Free Election. This is an absolute right. And we believe that we are being denied this by the government's failure to:
- investigate foreign state interference in the UK's democratic process;
and/or
- have a legal framework which provides the conditions to ensure the free expression of the people in the choice of the legislature.
"The outrage isn't that there was interference. The outrage is that no one wanted to know if there was interference".
Kevan Jones MP member of the UK Intelligence and Security Committee
Over the coming months we will continue to investigate, report and produce content that explains the facts - looking behind the smoke and mirrors. We will pursue justice for our democracy through the courts.
We hope you will join us and support this case. It is essential that keep the pressure on the government. We need to protect our future elections. We need the truth.
Our legal team
We are working with Tessa Gregory and Tom Short of Leigh Day solicitors and our counsel team consists of Ben Jaffey, QC, of Blackstone Chambers, Richard Hermer, of Matrix Chambers, and Natasha Simonsen of Blackstone Chambers.
We need your help to protect our democracy and we need legitimate funds from the public to make sure we can do this in an accountable and transparent way. Funds will primarily be used for legal fees, anything left over will be used for additional investigation and public engagement.
We must protect the democracy so many fought to give us, and preserve it for future generations. Please help us.
The Citizens is a non profit UK company limited by guarantee. We are a transatlantic community dedicated to protecting democracy from data-driven disinformation.
Our core mission is to hold big tech, political parties and government to account through evidence-based reporting, creative storytelling and citizen activation.
We are funded by grants from foundations, donations from the public - and philanthropists.
We run a range of projects to raise public awareness about issues affecting democracy, empower citizens to act, and hold power to account through investigations and litigations. Our work is for the public benefit.
https://the-citizens.com
Organizer
The Citizens .
Organizer