Judge rules against secret evidence

originally published:
1st December 2009

Two men suspected of terrorism-related activities won a landmark high court battle today when judges ruled a person could not be denied bail solely on the basis of secret evidence.

Lord Justice Laws, sitting with Mr Justice Owen, said bail applications should be treated the same as control order cases, where terror suspects must be given sufficient material to enable them to answer effectively the case made against them.

The ruling, which could have wider implications for the use of secret evidence, was described as a “historic” victory by the human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce. The home secretary, Alan Johnson, said he was “surprised and disappointed”.

The two judges said it was “impossible” to conclude “that in bail cases a less stringent procedural standard is required [than in control order cases]“.

They also rejected government claims that decisions by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), which deals with terror suspect cases, are immune from judicial review. Laws said judicial review was “a principal engine of the rule of law”.

The ruling was a victory for a Pakistani student facing removal from the UK, who was refused bail on the basis of secret evidence, and an Algerian national, “U”, whose bail was revoked.

Read full article >

Posted by Zinzi Eka-Naphtali on 01/12/2009. Filed under Breaking News & Digests. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry