"Activist Lawyers"
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The Tweet
On the 26th of August, one of the Home Office tweets criticised ‘activist lawyers’ for ‘disrupting’ the deportation of migrants. The term ‘activist lawyer’ is believed to be targeting immigration lawyers who represent and help clients with asylum and human rights claim to secure legal immigration status. The tweet was later deleted after it caused a temporary uproar among lawyers and was condemned by the Law Society who responded with a press release.
The Law Society believes that ‘attacks on the legal profession undermine the rule of law’ since the judicial branch of the British government should ‘remain independent of government, media and public opinion’. This is important as ‘the rule of law’ is what allows lawyers to function without the ‘fear of intimidation’ so that Britain can effectively uphold its international reputation for democracy.
Additionally, they believe the ‘solicitors advise their clients on their rights under the laws created by parliament’. This suggests that by questioning the lawyers’ role in representing the immigration and human rights laws, the Home Office is also mistakenly questioning the establishment of the laws and the legislative branch of the government (the parliament) who create them. This is a risky accusation to make and therefore shows the significance behind describing lawyers as ‘activists’.
The distinction between Activists and Lawyers
Perhaps, the misuse of the term ‘activist lawyers’ lies in people’s inability to distinguish clearly between activists and lawyers which can be ‘misleading and dangerous’, hence why Matthew Rycroft, the Home Office’s permanent secretary has informed his team to never use the term again. Arguably, lawyers are professionals who can describe laws and implement the governing interrelationship of laws with members of society. On the other hand, activists seek to promote social, political and economic reforms in society toward a perceived greater good by changing the interrelationship of laws and its citizens.
Conclusion
What the Home Office must remember is that, although it can be frustrating when deportation decisions are overturned, these cases are overturned legally. The immigration lawyers whom they described as ‘activist lawyers’ are simply upholding the laws and not changing them.
by Ke Thie Kiew