The Labour Party will now keep the outcome of disciplinary cases secret, including the case of Jackie Walker

The Labour Party will no longer reveal the outcomes of disciplinary cases, and will keep the public guessing as to whether Party members such as Jackie Walker are suspended, expelled or even punished at all. The revelation came as Labour began responding to questions about Jackie Walker with the line: “We don’t comment on individuals’ membership status.” The new approach appears to be the invention of Baroness Chakrabarti, who wrote a report whitewashing Labour’s antisemitism problem.

Despite being a qualified barrister, in endorsing a secret disciplinary process Baroness Chakrabarti has done away with a century of British jurisprudence. It has been a foundation of modern British justice that “Justice should be done and seen to be done.” In coining the phrase in 1924, Lord Chief Justice Hewart ruled in the case of R v Sussex Justices, Ex parte McCarthy ([1924] 1 KB 256, [1923] All ER Rep 233) that: “a long line of cases shows that it is not merely of some importance but is of fundamental importance that justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.”

The Labour Party’s disciplinary process is not administered by the British justice system, but it should be bound by its key principles. There could be some justification for not commenting until a verdict has been reached, but concealing the outcome of disciplinary proceedings from public scrutiny removes any assurance that justice has been served and completely destroys the legitimacy of the disciplinary process.

The Labour Party has historically fought for a fair and open judicial process, yet today’s Labour Party will shield itself and the antisemites subject to disciplinary proceedings from scrutiny.