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UK court overturns control order against suspected terrorist

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] A control order against a suspected terrorist known as AN was overturned Friday by the UK High Court. In overturning the control order, the high court relied on a June decision from a panel of nine Law Lords requiring the government to let detainees and subjects of control orders know generally what charges they face so that they can mount a defense. Home Secretary Alan Johnson has announced plans to draft a new control order against AN. Civil rights group Liberty condemned the new control order as a circumvention of the law, claiming, "A handful of officials and specially-vetted lawyers have outlasted dozens of Ministers and built their careers on punishment without trial - leaving Britain less safe and less free" Control orders allow the British government to conduct surveillance and impose house arrest on suspects where there does not exist enough evidence to prosecute. The orders can also be used to forbid the use of mobile phones and the Internet. In February, a UK counter-terrorism official said that some suspects living under control orders have managed to maintain contact with terrorist organizations. Control orders were first introduced by the government of former prime minister Tony Blair in 2005 and, apart from being politically controversial, have already run into problems in the courts. The UK Law Lords ruled in a series of decisions in October that the government can continue to impose control orders on terror suspects in lieu of detention, but said that some elements of the orders issued under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 violate human rights.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on August 01, 2009 (boomark / email).