YES, YES, YES. The walls of Home Office secrecy are finally crumbling.
This victory is one giant leap for transparency and sends a huge message to the animal testing industry – your days of hiding behind faceless bureaucrats in the Home Office are over.
We, the people, are sick of this culture of secrecy within the UK Government that enables the torture of millions of animals in labs, every year, to be hidden behind wall after wall, layer after layer of secrecy.
The Home Office submitted over 1,000 documents and used a whole team of lawyers to fight this case – and they LOST.
Three appeals have been made to the General Regulatory Council by an individual to challenge Freedom of Information Request exemptions used by the Home Office to maintain secrecy of animal research.
Today two of those exemptions have been overturned s38 re health and safety of staff and s44 re ASPA 1986 secrecy clause s24.
This has been 2.5 years in the making and the result is no doubt due to the amazing commitment and expertise of the counsel Adam Richardson and lawyer Vanessa Challess (Tiger Law). Their work was all pro bono for the animals and justice. They will continue to represent on the other two tribunals, one of which will be heard next week.
Let us all give a big Camp Beagle shout out to Adam and Vanessa who two years ago had no idea just how much work they would be signing up for. All three cases had the Home Office join after a first hearing and therefore all work was repeated.
- To download the Tribunal decision Click Here
- To download the Gideon-Winward Witness Statement 28th February 2024 Click Here
- To download the Open Witness Statement of William Reynolds 9th September 2024 – Click Here
- To download the Paginated Open Index & Exhibits Guidance (Redacted) – Click Here
- To download the Witness Statement of Roger Gill 27th February 2024 – Click Here
The Camp Beagle Team