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Home Office sources have told the Guardian that the government is considering introducing special anti-terror courts sitting in secret to determine how long suspects should be detained without charge.
Ministers are considering making a French-style "security-cleared judge" responsible for assembling a pre-trial case against terrorist suspects, with in-camera access to sensitive intelligence evidence, including currently inadmissible phone-tap evidence.
The plan under consideration could also involve the use of security-vetted "special advocates" as legal representatives of those detained.
However, a former minister and senior Blairite MP has criticised the government for its apparently panicked handling of initiatives to counter the threat posed by Islamist extremists.
John Denham, the Labour chairman of the home affairs committee and a former Home Office minister, told the FT he was concerned by the way senior government figures had rushed out a number of controversial moves without prior consultation.
"What is more worrying is the sense of slight panic that seems to be emanating from the government over the last few days," he said.
"After the [London] bombings, there was a very sensible and measured approach recognising things needed to be done and discussed. The flurry of announcements over the last few days, many of which haven't been developed fully, gives the sense that the government is not fully in control of events and that's unfortunate."
Meanwhile, four men alleged to have been involved in last month's failed bomb plot were charged formally and remanded in custody when they appeared at Bow Street Magistrates' Court sitting at the maximum security Belmarsh prison in London.
A fifth suspect, Hussain Osman, is being held in Rome awaiting an extradition hearing.
August 9, 2005 at 09:10 AM in UK | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home