When MI5 Lies to the Courts: A Litany of Deception Threatens the Reputation of the Security Service

At a High Court hearing on 18th September before the Lady Chief Justice, the President of the King's Bench Division and Lord Justice Chamberlain, the Security Service (MI5) accepted that it gave evidence based on lies to three courts and that senior MI5 officers were repeatedly dishonest while seeking to defend a violent neo-Nazi agent identified as Agent X whose alleged abuse of two women was uncovered by the BBC.

Counsel for MI5 told the Court that "MI5 accepts without reservation" the findings of a damning report prepared by Deputy Investigatory Powers Commissioner Sir John Goldring (https://ipco-wpmedia-prod-s3.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/Agent-X-Report.pdf) which concluded that MI5 gave evidence based on "lies" about having kept to its core secrecy policy applicable to Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) – known as 'neither confirm nor deny' (NCND) – in relation to the agent status of the neo-Nazi informant.

Following MI5's admission in this high profile legal case, lawyers for the BBC and one of Agent X's victims argued that contempt of court proceedings should be brought against two MI5 officers as well as MI5 itself in light of Sir John's clear findings and the obvious public interest in marking the gravity of the conduct. At the conclusion of the hearing the Lady Chief Justice said it had been "a serious day addressing serious matters" and judgment is pending on what action the High Court will take.

On Double Jeopardy, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC discuss the background to this extraordinary case and praise Sir John's Report. Their expert legal commentary unpacks how MI5 reacted when faced with a threat to expose one of their agents and the often close relationship between MI5 and the media. The Report also provides legal system insights into the interactions between MI5 agents, lawyers, Special Advocates and the Court in the context of closed hearings under the Justice and Security Act 2013.

Ken and Tim go on to discuss current affairs, tackling the bizarre justification given by Shadow Foreign Secretary Tom Tugendhat for his Damascene conversion to supporting the UK's withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights. The debate around this cornerstone of human rights law raises a pointed question: is this a classic example of political ambition triumphing over principle? Finally, the duo reflect on the extreme responses from various listeners to last week's episode on the Thirlwall Report and its implications for Lucy Letby's