Conservative Party leader Michael Howard has urged Britain's judges not to undermine the fight against terrorism by picking apart legislation designed to crack down on extremists.
Mr Howard warned, in an article for The Daily Telegraph, that "aggressive judicial activism" could jeopardise the nation's security - and the very freedoms the judiciary seek to defend.
His warning echoes comments by Tony Blair at a Downing Street press conference last month, when the British Prime Minister made clear he expected the judiciary to uphold new laws to combat terrorism.
In his article, Mr Howard recalled how in December last year the Law Lords delivered a stinging blow to the government's emergency anti-terror measures by ruling that indefinite detention without trial contravened human rights laws.
The Law Lords ruled that anti-terrorism legislation, introduced by former Home Secretary David Blunkett after the September 11 2001 attacks on the US, was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights because it was disproportionate and discriminated against foreign nationals.
Mr Howard made his comments as politicians from all three major parties criticised the way ministers have set out the next steps to combat terror and the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer of Thoroton QC dismissed as "extraordinarily unlikely" that radical clerics could be charged with treason.
Turning to the fresh measures proposed last week by Mr Blair, in the aftermath of the London bombings - which included new powers to exclude and deport people from the UK and extending the time terrorist suspects can be held without charge - Mr Howard said the Tories would support the measures in principle, though they would have to be scrutinised in detail.
He continued: "We all have a duty to play our part in dealing with the threat of terrorism and those who foment terrorism. That includes government and opposition. It should also include the judiciary.
"It is, however, vital for the future of our country that the judiciary exercise [their] powers with self-restraint, recognising that parliament, accountable as it is directly to the people, must be allowed to exercise the supreme responsibility of deciding what powers are to be conferred on the Executive."
PA