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UK: Control orders breach European human rights law

01 May 2006

At the end of July Lord Justice Sullivan quashed the government's use of control orders, which have been imposed on six men who are accused of terrorism, but who cannot be brought before a court of law because there is not sufficient evidence to charge them. Under the control order regime the men have had severe restrictions applied to their freedom of movement and association, which prevent them from leaving their homes between the hours of 4pm and 10am, limits who they can meet and bans the use of mobile phones or the internet. In his ruling Mr Justice Sullivan described the restrictions as "the antithesis of liberty" and the "equivalent to imprisonment". Pointing out that the orders break European human rights laws he said: "[The men's] liberty to live a normal life within their residences is so curtailed as to be non-existent for all practical purposes."

The control orders ruling is the latest in a series of setbacks for the government's anti-terrorist strategy. In December 2004 the law lords ruled that government actions in imprisoning terror suspects without trial or access to full legal advice was unlawful. This ruling led to the introduction of the control orders, but in April the High court overturned the first case where one had been used, stating that the suspect had not been permitted a fair hearing. Home Office minister, Tony McNulty, has said that the government would appeal against the decision and defended the removal of individuals from the safety of the judicial process by invoking public safety, while Home Secretary, John Reid, accused the High court judge of "misunderstanding" the law and making "errors" in its interpretation.

Guardian 2.8.06; BBC News 2.8.06