THE FORMER British Attorney General told the international conference on criminal law codification that the British proposal to hold suspected terrorists for 42 days without charge was "wrong in principle and counter-productive in practice".
It meant Britain had the longest period of pre-trial detention in the common law world, he said.
Lord Peter Goldsmith was giving the Michael Hill Memorial Lecture to the 22nd conference of the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law in Dublin at the weekend.
He said that the debate on the Counter Terrorism Bill in the House of Lords last week had involved a large variety of people, including two former Lord Chancellors, two former heads of the Metropolitan Police, four high-ranking former members of the intelligence service, and four former law officers. The large majority of those who spoke opposed the measure.
He said rule of law should be central to facing challenges posed by international terrorism. The first line of defence must be effective use of the criminal law, combined with fair processes. The Government had a duty to defend citizens, and to uphold fundamental freedoms and liberties.
Three principles should guide any action taken, he said. These were that the government should accept the rule of law, and subject legislation and executive action to court scrutiny; a commitment to universal values and freedoms, such as the right to a fair trial; and only those changes which could be shown to be necessary and proportionate should be allowed.
The proposal for 42-day detention was fatally flawed when measured against these principles. "The Lords Minister failed to recognise the proper role of the prosecution. They have not requested longer [period of detention] and did not need longer. It is clear the government did not understand the difference between the prosecution and the government. "We must be careful in taking a stand that we uphold the rule of law. We must imprison people only on the basis of evidence which is tested independently, before an independent tribunal, with competent legal representation. The prosecution process must be seen to be fair. Imprisoning people without charge for up to 42 days and then releasing them without charge will not appear fair."