Published: October 17th 2008 - at 2:00 pm

The real issue with 42 days is that the Government has failed to make a convincing case for extending detention without charge by any number of days, let alone 42 – and its ‘arguments’, such as they are, are equally applicable to indefinite detention, which (strangely) isn’t on the table – yet it continues to press the issue.

Any proposal to extend this period smacks of an attempt to outflank the other parties. Opponents have been accused of “playing politics” and “trivial grandstanding” – well, six weeks detention isn’t trivial, and caring about the rights of suspects isn’t playing politics.

The argument that there are lots of mobile phones, computer disks, paperwork etc to examine seems a little specious: we know from computer analysts that the police aren’t particularly selective, that they seem to prefer fishing expeditions; also, we don’t need to hold someone while we examine their effects, and we don’t need to return this evidence after 28 or 42 days. This seems more of a question of man-hours and being more clever about searches. As for encryption, apparently you can forget about breaking decent encryption in a reasonable amount of time, so that’s equally an argument for 42 years as it is for 42 days.

One argument I do find convincing is that there are ‘choke-points’ or ‘bottle-necks’ related to gathering intelligence and evidence over multiple jurisdictions. This is not something that can be easily solved by throwing more money at it – it is a question of time. Does someone need to be detained while this goes on?

The most peculiar argument is that opponents will feel really awful if someone is released on the 28th day and then commits an atrocity on the 29th (particularly in that it equally applies to n days). I may be naïve but I have more faith in the police – I don’t believe they will simply give up once someone is released, and I have no problems with reasonable surveillance. On the other hand, it is undoubtedly easier for them to keep an eye on people who are in cold, damp, dark cells in Paddington Green police station.

It seems significant that the Government has not sought any independent medical advice on the impact of pre-charge detention on suspects; nor has it investigated the impact on their family life or employment. The Government and its supporters talk about the rights of victims and potential victims, and all the horrible things that have happened to the survivors of the bombings in London of the 7 July 2005, and how “the dead have no human rights”, and of course all that is important, but the rights of suspects don’t seem to be given much consideration at all, if any.

After all, the suspect is thought to be involved in terrorism, so who cares how long he is held, whether he has a job at the end of it, whether he attempts or succeeds in suicide?

The fact is that we have never run out of time under existing law, we are operating quite comfortably at present and, if there was a genuine public emergency, we could use existing law to detain people for as long as necessary. It would not be the first time the UK has derogated from the European Convention on Human Rights – indeed I’m sure that we are all proud to belong to the only country to have ever done so.

Lastly, you could do worse than read the JCHR’s Twenty-Fifth report, particularly in relation to concerns about 28 day detention without charge.

About the author
ukliberty is an occasional contributor to Liberal Conspiracy, and is a blogger specialising in issues relating to liberty. ukliberty blogs at UK Liberty, which is an independent blog, and not affiliated in any way to the organisation Liberty.
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Story Filed Under: Blog ,Campaigns ,Detention (28 days) ,Labour party ,Our democracy ,Terrorism ,Westminster

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