Green and Galley: sub judice does not prevent debate

The Speaker and the Leader of the House will no doubt be under pressure to allow a debate on the Damian Green/Christopher Galley leakgate affair after Parliament opens tomorrow – and so they should, as early as possible, and allowing enough time for a proper airing of views, and for ministers to make their involvement and knowledge plain. In case you’re wondering, the sub judice rule will not operate to prevent debate.

Sub judice is not a rule of law anyway, Parliament being free, ultimately, to discuss whatever it likes; and the Speaker always has discretion to allow debate on issues of national importance, which this plainly is (although the Speaker has a dodgy record on the exercise of this discretion). But none of that matters because the sub judice rule doesn’t even apply to a case until a charge is preferred, which it hasn’t been in this case of course. See this research note by Richard Kelly of the House of Commons Library for the full detail, chapter and verse.