The UK home secretary, Suella Braverman, is the most recent government minister to be accused of potential contempt of court. Following a decision to charge a firearms officer with murder for the shooting of Chris Kaba in September 2022, Braverman tweeted that officers “mustn’t fear ending up in the dock for carrying out their duties”.
These comments suggest that the decision to prosecute the officer is a mistake. And according to former chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal and several other experts, these comments risk affecting the fairness of the forthcoming trial, making them a possible contempt of court.
Braverman has not been officially accused of contempt, and the attorney general, who is responsible for bringing legal proceedings, has not commented. But, as I argue in recent research the fact that the attorney general would have to bring proceedings at all is a problem in itself.
