The Hindu Business Line : Britain beefs up terrorism law

On June 11, the British House of Commons passed by a slender margin of just nine votes (315 for and 306 against) a Bill to vest the police with the power to keep a terrorism suspect in detention without charge for a period of 42 days pending investigation. The Labour Government had already put on the statute book a Terrorist Act in 2000 to counter terrorism.

It had provided for a period of seven days’ detention, and this has been extended to 14 days since 2003 and 28 days since the last amendment in 2006. The current Bill provides for a period which is six times what was originally envisaged.

The passage of the Bill was not accomplished easily. It was touch-and-go, with 36 Labour MPs voting with the Opposition. The nine votes which tilted the scales in favour of the Government were cast by members of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) amidst suspicions aired during the debate and in the media that they were won over to the Government’s side with the lure of raising government spending in Northern Ireland (the support base of DUP) by £1.2 billion.

The critics fought the Bill tooth and nail by advancing the familiar libertarian arguments that less liberty did not mean more security, that it would tarnish the reputation of the country as one of the most liberal democracies and that the power of detention without charge was liable to be misused.

They flaunted figures showing that roughly half of those detained under previous limits had to be released without charge, with only six suspects being held right up to the 28th day, of whom three were then charged and three released without charge.

Since those released were not then placed under any order of restraint or under surveillance, the opponents questioned the need or justification for the Bill.

The Amnesty International in Britain expectedly denounced the Bill as “dangerous” since, in its view, no government should have the power to allow police to lock people up for six weeks without charge.

However, the Government was bolstered by public opinion, 69 per cent of respondents in a poll conducted by The Daily Telegraph supporting the extension “in exceptional circumstances”.

Devotion to national interest

The Prime Minister, Mr Gordon Brown, boldly laid his leadership on the line by declaring flatly that he would take “no risks with security”. He added, “Every senior policeman and every senior member of the security services have convinced me that an extension to 42 days’ pre-charge detention is needed. I don’t want, in a moment of panic, to come to the House for emergency measures.”

The critics, nevertheless, succeeded in wresting from the Government concessions whereby the Police and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) would have to make out sufficient grounds in particular cases for getting the sanction of the Home Secretary, and his decision to invoke the extended power would have to be approved by Parliament within 30 days to be operative.

In addition, any detention beyond 28 days would have to be approved by the DPP and beyond 35 days by a senior judge, and if any suspect is released without being charged, he should be paid a compensation (£3000 per day was a figure mentioned) for each day of detention. Further, there will be an independent review of the working of the terrorism law to guard against misuse.

Mr Gordon Brown’s unflinching courage in going ahead with the Bill at a time when his own popularity rating was the lowest and the Labour Party had suffered defeats in several bye-elections shows his exceptional devotion to national interest.

Here is something salutary for emulation by our Ministers and parliamentarians.

B. S. RAGHAVAN

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