Ministers consider pre-trial hearings for terror suspects
Terror suspects could face a pre-trial hearing behind closed doors under new proposals under review by the Home Office.
A department spokeswoman confirmed the measures were being considered as part of the government’s toughening up of anti-terror legislation and administrative powers.
The details of the new preliminary hearings have yet to be decided but reports suggest they would be presided over by a judge, and could see the admission of previously inadmissible evidence such as phone taps.
The hearings would allow prosecutors to establish whether there was enough evidence for a conviction before proceeding ahead with a full trial.
The proposals were part of a host of anti-terrorism measures announced by Tony Blair at a press conference last week, including strengthening powers to deport or bar from Britain radical imams and those associated with extremist websites, bookshops or groups.
The prime minister insisted that the “rules of the game are changing” and the public mood was eager for such strong measures to be taken, but opposition parties expressed surprise about the lack of consultation with them on the issue.
After weeks of cross-party consensus, Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy said the government could no longer count on his party’s support for such measures, while the Conservatives warned consultation must continue.
And last night former Home Office minister John Denham, now chairman of the home affairs select committee, warned that the government had made a mistake moving away from this consensus.
“I think the problem is that last week the government felt under a lot of pressure over a wide range of issues, but that is going to be inevitable when you have got something as serious as terrorism,” he told BBC Radio 4’s PM.
“I think they moved on Friday to make a number of dramatic statements, some of which were not as well developed as they should have been to have been to be announcements.”
He continued: “That was a mistake as I think the approach they have been taking since the bombings was serious, it was going to bring about change, but it was measured and the aim was to involve everybody in those decisions.
“Once you start making announcements in press conferences, where you have not told the other political parties, and you have not consulted communities about, then you do run into dangers that the strategy itself looks shaky.”
