These include new offences of eliciting, publishing or communicating information about members of the armed forces, new search and seizure powers and new ministerial controls over inquests.

The Society’s concerns about such Government plans to decrease independent public scrutiny of deaths have also been raised with Justice Minister Bridget Prentice.

They involve not only the Counter-Terrorism Bill but also potential ministerial control over the publication of reports of investigations conducted by the proposed Commissioner for Offender Management and Prisons.