Counter-terrorism watchdog's credibility questioned

Thursday, 04 February 2010 17:05

Andrew Dismore (pictured), MP for Hendon and chairman of the Joint Committee on Human Rights has questioned whether the credibility of the government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Lord Carlile, has been undermined. Dismore also advocated introducing a fixed term for the post.

Dismore’s comments were made after a committee hearing on the future of the control order regime. The control order system has suffered several blows following legal judgments ruling on their erosion of the legal rights of defendants and the inadmissibility of ‘secret evidence’ as reason to subject individuals to control order restrictions.

Lord Carlile has supported the system saying there was no “suitable alternative”.

Dismore, speaking after the hearing said:

"I think there is a risk of the perceptions of [Carlile's] independence being undermined, and that then undermines [his] credibility.'

"I think there ought to be a fixed term for his job."

The control order regime was also heavily criticized in the Home Affairs committee’s report, ‘The Home Office’s Response to Terrorist Attacks’. The report stated:

‘…control orders no longer provide an effective response to the continuing threat and it appears from recent legal cases that the legality of the control order regime is in serious doubt. It is our considered view that it is fundamentally wrong to deprive individuals of their liberty without revealing why. The security services should take recent court rulings as an opportunity to rely on other forms of monitoring and surveillance.’

Gareth Peirce, who appeared before the committee, described the control order system as being "on the rocks" and claimed that Lord Carlile lent a "veneer" of credibility to the system.

She added that "the Home Office clings to the wreckage", referring to the Home Secretary’s challenges to court decisions on control orders.

‘Peirce added that although the system for dealing with terror suspects affected a small number of people, the impact was far broader in the Muslim community. "In terms of its contribution to what people might term the folklore of injustice, its impact is colossal," she said.’

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