http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/01/nlords101.xm l
Terror suspects given the right to roam By Christopher Hope, Home Affairs Correspondent Last Updated: 2:33am GMT 01/11/2007 The law lords have delivered a major blow to the Government's anti-terror policy, ruling that stringent control orders should be watered down so that suspects will be able to wander free for half of the day. * Four <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/01/nlords201.x ml> terror suspects who went on the run * History <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/01/nlords301.x ml> of a troubled policy on terror * David <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/01/nlords401.x ml> Davis: Robust policing and sound borders needed They ruled that, while the orders were lawful, the most draconian power - an 18-hour home curfew - was in breach of the suspects' human rights. advertisement A 12-hour curfew, when suspects must stay at home, have their visitors vetted by the Home Office and their phone calls and internet intercepted, was ruled acceptable. This means that, for half of the day, suspects will be able to stray from home within a set number of miles and in some cases go to the shops, the gym or the local mosque. This relaxation will fuel concerns that more suspects will flee. Seven have absconded since 2005 and six are still on the run. The ruling is a significant blow to the anti-terror strategy. The Home Office relies on the orders to control terrorist suspects against whom there is not enough evidence to bring a prosecution. Civil liberties groups last night urged the Government to rethink the system, while political opponents said the "game was up" for control orders. The judges also ruled against a system which allows secret intelligence-based evidence to be withheld from suspects and their lawyers, a move that could fatally undermine the entire control orders regime. The Government appoints so-called "special advocates" to represent suspects in secret hearings. They are not allowed to discuss the evidence with their clients. But a majority of the law lords said the system was not a sufficient safeguard and suspects should have access to the "key evidence" against them. The cases under consideration in yesterday's ruling involved nine terrorist suspects and one spouse who were placed under the orders. The key ruling on the 18-hour curfew related to six Iraqi men, two of whom later absconded. * Joshua <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/01/nlaw101.xml > Rozenberg: Law lords show who's in control * Philip <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/01/nlords501.x ml> Lawrence's killer can stay in UK, rules judge Shami Chakrabarti, director of the human rights group Liberty, said the judges had "dealt a significant blow to the control order regime whilst stopping short of outlawing the controversial policy altogether". She added: "The authorities have rightly lost their most draconian 18-hour curfews without trial. Whilst that is a body blow to Blairite policy, it is now left to Strasbourg or Westminster to restore the age-old right to a fair trial." David Davis, the shadow home secretary, called on the Government to undertake a review of the handling of the control order regime. "If it concludes that the current situation is so grave as to justify derogating from its Human Rights Act in order to protect the public, it will need to come to Parliament and explain its position," he said. Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrats' home affairs spokesman, said the ruling was "enormously welcome". He added: "The Government must now accept that the game is up and that cross-party talks on alternatives to control orders must be convened urgently." The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, responded by seizing on one of the lords' recommendations that a 16-hour curfew could still apply. "I believe that today's ruling could allow us to impose curfews of up to 16 hours, which I will now consider." Indefinite control orders are a key anti-terror measure, introduced two years ago after the House of Lords held that locking up suspects in prison indefinitely breached their human rights. . Britain will take 30 years to overcome the threat of al-Qa'eda-inspired terrorism, the security minister has said. Admiral Lord Alan West, the former navy chief, said that he had doubled his original estimate. "I now realise that we are talking about a generation - and by that I would say 30 years," he said. "It will be in phases. After some years it will become much better - and then (the threat) will hopefully go." [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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