24/06/2011
Source: Guardian
A former cabinet secretary and a former leader of the Liberal Democrats have criticised government contingency plans to detain terror suspects for up to 28 days without charge as unsatisfactory and unreliable.
The cross-party committee of peers and MPs, chaired by Lord Armstrong and with Sir Menzies Campbell among its members, says that such an extension from the current 14 days limit would first have to be approved by a vote in parliament in each case and would jeopardise any chance of a fair trial.
The criticism from the official committee on the draft legislation follows a similar warning from the government's own counter-terror watchdog. David Anderson, who recently replaced Lord Carlile in the role, told Police Review that the ability to extend the normal detention period should be available 365 days a year and not depend on the "vagaries of the Parliamentary calendar''.
Click here for full article (Opens new page)