Joint Committee on Human Rights opposes terror detention plans

11.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 31st Jul 2007

The parliamentary joint committee on human rights has found that there is not enough evidence to support extending the 28-day limit on holding terrorism suspects before charge. Any extension should be based on clear evidence, not the idea that a need "may arise at some time in the future", said the committee of MPs and peers. It also recommended the production of an annual report on police use of the power to detain without charge beyond 14 days, and a parliamentary-approved upper limit on pre-charge detention.

Liberal Democrat spokesperson Evan Harris said "The recent government paper on options for pre-charge detention admits that there has been no case so far where extension beyond 28 days would have led to a charge that could not otherwise be laid. No other European country tolerates such extended periods of detention without charge and neither should Britain, just because politicians or the police say it might come in useful later on."