§ 55. Mr. Stokesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why it was decided, in 1945, not to object to 51W the publication of trials ordered by Her Majesty's judges to be held in camera and under what statutory authority the decision that the judge's order should be overruled was given.
§ Sir D. Maxwell FyfeThe end of the war created a new situation, in which it was no longer important to deny information to the enemy. I am sending to the right hon. Member a copy of a Notice to Editors issued at the time with the concurrence of the then Lord Chief Justice, given on behalf of his brother judges. No question of overruling a judge's order arose. The orders made by the judges expressly provided that there should be no disclosure save by or on behalf of the Crown.
§ 56 and 57. Mr. Stokesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) why he has now permitted the disclosure of documents which the then Attorney General decided, in 1948, could not be disclosed except by order of the court;
(2) under what authority he has permitted publication of parts of evidence in a case of which he has been informed, in view of the fact that the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Lord Chief Justice recently refused an application for publication of documents in that same case.
§ Sir D. Maxwell FyfeI have referred to the answers given in Parliament in 1948 by the then Attorney-General and find that he declined to take any initiative in regard to publication of documents relating to certain war-time trials and made it plain that he had no authority to order the production of documents subject to an Order of the High Court under Section 6 of the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act, 1939.
When application was recently made to me, in accordance with the terms of the 1945 decision, to publish passages from the evidence given in the course of some of those trials. I took the view that there was no longer any security objection to the publication of the matter in question.
I am not aware that any views on this matter have been expressed by the Director of Public Prosecutions or the Lord Chief Justice. But, in any event, permission to publish could only be given by or on behalf of the Crown.