BBC News Wednesday, 28 June 2006, 17:04 GMT 18:04 UK

Judge quashes anti-terror orders

Control orders are part of the anti-terrorism effort

A key plank of the government's anti-terrorism laws has been dealt a blow by the High Court.

A senior judge said control orders made against six men break European human rights laws. Ministers say they will appeal against the ruling.

The orders are imposed on people suspected of terrorism but where there is not enough evidence to go to court.

They mean suspects can be tagged, confined to their homes, and banned from communicating with others.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Sullivan said control orders were incompatible with Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which outlaws indefinite detention without trial.

The home secretary had no power to make the orders and they must therefore all be quashed, he said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5125668.stm

The Times Wednesday 28th June 2006

Judge brands control orders 'unlawful'

By Simon Freeman

"Two High Court rulings by the same judge have the potential to fatally undermine the Government’s key measure for dealing with terror suspects" Richard Ford Home Correspondent Read analysis in full

A cornerstone of the Government's security policy was thrown into doubt today after a High Court judge ruled the use of control orders on terrorist suspects to be unlawful.

In a ruling that instantly re-ignited the feud between the Government and the judiciary, Mr Justice Jeremy Sullivan said that powers enshrined by the orders were so severe that they amounted to a deprivation of liberty without a trial and, as such, breached European human rights legislation.

Quashing orders against six men - one British citizen and five Iraqis referred to only by initials - he told the High Court in London: "The [Home Secretary] had no power to make the orders and they must therefore all be quashed."

Control orders were introduced in April last year after the courts rejected post-September 11 emergency powers allowing police to imprison suspected foreign terrorists indefinitely without trial.

The measures - which give the Home Office the power to severely restrict the lifestyles of terror suspects, including placing them under conditions akin to house arrest - were steered onto the statute book days before the last general election. It is believed that 14 control orders have since been imposed.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,17129-2247622,00.html

The Guardian Wednesday 28th June 2006

Anti-terrorism control orders ruled illegal

By Staff and Agencies

A key part of the government's controversial anti-terrorism legislation was in limbo tonight, after a senior judge ruled that so-called "control orders" were incompatible with the European convention on human rights.

The control orders, which can be used to curtail people's movements, tag them and restrict who they can meet, were brought in by the government to deal with suspects thought to be involved in terrorist activities, but against whom there is not enough evidence to prosecute.

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,1808088,00.html

Human Rights Act 1998which became effective in the UK in October 2000

ARTICLE 5
RIGHT TO LIBERTY AND SECURITY

1. Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be deprived of his liberty save in the following cases and in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law:

(a) the lawful detention of a person after conviction by a competent court;

(b) the lawful arrest or detention of a person for non-compliance with the lawful order of a court or in order to secure the fulfilment of any obligation prescribed by law;

(c) the lawful arrest or detention of a person effected for the purpose of bringing him before the competent legal authority on reasonable suspicion of having committed an offence or when it is reasonably considered necessary to prevent his committing an offence or fleeing after having done so;

(d) the detention of a minor by lawful order for the purpose of educational supervision or his lawful detention for the purpose of bringing him before the competent legal authority;

(e) the lawful detention of persons for the prevention of the spreading of infectious diseases, of persons of unsound mind, alcoholics or drug addicts or vagrants;

(f) the lawful arrest or detention of a person to prevent his effecting an unauthorised entry into the country or of a person against whom action is being taken with a view to deportation or extradition.

2. Everyone who is arrested shall be informed promptly, in a language which he understands, of the reasons for his arrest and of any charge against him.

3. Everyone arrested or detained in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1(c) of this Article shall be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorised by law to exercise judicial power and shall be entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial. Release may be conditioned by guarantees to appear for trial.

4. Everyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings by which the lawfulness of his detention shall be decided speedily by a court and his release ordered if the detention is not lawful.

5. Everyone who has been the victim of arrest or detention in contravention of the provisions of this Article shall have an enforceable right to compensation.

Crown Copyright 1998

http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/19980042.htm

The authoritative version is the Queen's Printer copy published by The Stationery Office Limited as the Human Rights Act 1998, ISBN 0 10 544298 4.