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08/03/2005
Terror Bill faces more opposition in House of Lords
The government's controversial Prevention of Terrorism Bill faces more opposition after the House of Lords voted for an amendment to the Bill.
The peers voted 249 to 119 in favour of an amendment, which stated that judges should be responsible for issuing all control orders. The government has originally wanted the Home Secretary to be solely responsible for issuing the controversial orders, which would allow terror suspects to be placed under house arrest in extreme cases and allow the use of electronic tagging and a ban on the use of mobile phones and the internet in other cases.
Last week, Home Secretary Charles Clarke, backed down and agreed to an amendment, which would give judges the power to issue control orders authorising house arrest. However, the new amendment would give only judges the power to issue all such control orders.
Twenty Labour peers voted for the amendment, including Prime Minister Tony Blair's former boss ex-Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine, which has proved to be a blow for the government. Former Metropolitan Police chief Lord Condon also voted against the Bill.
The government allowed another two amendments to be made to the Bill, following the defeat. The first allows the standard of proof for control orders to be raised from "reasonable grounds" for suspicion to satisfaction on the "balance of probabilities"; while the second is a clause which states that the Director of Public Prosecutions must declare that there is no reasonable prospect of successful prosecution before the order is made.
The House of Lords is also expected to back a "sunset clause" amendment. Proposed by Conservatives this amendment would see any new Bill expire by the end of November - this has been strongly opposed by the government.
The new Bill was introduced after the House of Lords ruled that the previous law, which allowed foreign terror suspects to be detained without trial, was illegal. The current laws will expire next Monday.
Last week, a report by the Joint Committee on Human Rights, which contains members from all the political parties, stated that Bill was being pushed through parliament too quickly for it to be scrutinised properly.
The Bill is due to return to the Commons tomorrow.
(KMcA/SP)
The peers voted 249 to 119 in favour of an amendment, which stated that judges should be responsible for issuing all control orders. The government has originally wanted the Home Secretary to be solely responsible for issuing the controversial orders, which would allow terror suspects to be placed under house arrest in extreme cases and allow the use of electronic tagging and a ban on the use of mobile phones and the internet in other cases.
Last week, Home Secretary Charles Clarke, backed down and agreed to an amendment, which would give judges the power to issue control orders authorising house arrest. However, the new amendment would give only judges the power to issue all such control orders.
Twenty Labour peers voted for the amendment, including Prime Minister Tony Blair's former boss ex-Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine, which has proved to be a blow for the government. Former Metropolitan Police chief Lord Condon also voted against the Bill.
The government allowed another two amendments to be made to the Bill, following the defeat. The first allows the standard of proof for control orders to be raised from "reasonable grounds" for suspicion to satisfaction on the "balance of probabilities"; while the second is a clause which states that the Director of Public Prosecutions must declare that there is no reasonable prospect of successful prosecution before the order is made.
The House of Lords is also expected to back a "sunset clause" amendment. Proposed by Conservatives this amendment would see any new Bill expire by the end of November - this has been strongly opposed by the government.
The new Bill was introduced after the House of Lords ruled that the previous law, which allowed foreign terror suspects to be detained without trial, was illegal. The current laws will expire next Monday.
Last week, a report by the Joint Committee on Human Rights, which contains members from all the political parties, stated that Bill was being pushed through parliament too quickly for it to be scrutinised properly.
The Bill is due to return to the Commons tomorrow.
(KMcA/SP)
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