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Intercept evidence would do more harm than good says terrorism watchdog
Martin Bentham, Home Affairs Editor24.11.09
Allowing intercept evidence in terror trials would "be wholly at odds with the national interest", the Government's terrorism watchdog said today.
Lord Carlile of Berriew said any change in the law would place a "significant" new burden upon those involved in counter-terrorism and distract them from tackling crime.
He also claimed that comparisons with other countries, such as the US, Australia and France, where intercept evidence is allowed, were "ill-informed and misleading" because of their different legal systems and the stricter rules on disclosure in British courts.
Today's conclusion by Lord Carlile, the Government's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, will dismay those - including the Tories, Lib Dems and civil liberties groups - who argue intercept evidence could play a key role in securing more convictions. An official panel set up by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2007 to examine whether such material, such as phone tap recordings, can be used in court is still assessing the issue.
But Lord Carlile's opposition makes it likely the review will eventually decide against the change.
MI5 and the police remain concerned that the need to transcribe hundreds of hours of conversations, often in foreign languages, will place a huge administrative burden upon them, while there are fears that monitoring techniques could be revealed if such material is made public in court.
Lord Carlile added: "I believe that this debate should now be drawn to a conclusion against the introduction of intercept evidence."
The comments came in a report published by Lord Carlile on a major anti-terror operation in April in which 12 men were detained at gunpoint in response to intelligence suggesting a terror attack may have been imminent. The arrests, during a series of raids across the North West, had to be rushed forward after the Met's then top anti-terrorist officer, Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick, was photographed in Downing Street with papers which contained details of the operation.
Lord Carlile says that although none of the men were charged, at least some of the arrests were justified because of the possible risk to public safety. But he made a series of highly critical findings about the way the operation was handled, saying:
Ministers have failed to crack down on "bogus colleges", used by some of the suspects to enter Britain.
Police failed to understand the law on detaining terror suspects.
Mr Quick's blunder risked heightening community tensions by forcing "combat style" raids to be carried out in daylight and in public places.
Ministers should avoid creating "unwelcome distraction" through public comments on terror raids, following Mr Brown's claim that a "very big" plot had been foiled.
