UK considers 'secret courts'

2005-08-09 18:13

London - Britain is considering setting up secretive courts to make it easier to prosecute terror suspects - and to hold them without charge for longer than the current 14 days - as part of the crackdown following last month's deadly London bombings, officials said on Tuesday.

The Home Office said it was considering changing the pretrial process to deal with particularly sensitive terror cases, with the aim of "securing more prosecutions".

Currently, terror suspects can be held for two weeks without charge and after they are charged, police can no longer question them. Police have asked the government to extend this period to three months.

The anti-terror courts - run by judges with special high-level security clearance - would meet behind closed doors to consider the merits of the case against terror suspects, rule on highly sensitive evidence and decide how long the suspect could be held, The Guardian newspaper reported Tuesday, citing Home Office unnamed officials.

A spokeswoman for the Home Office, who spoke on condition of anonymity because government policy bars her from being quoted by name, confirmed a new pretrial procedure is under consideration, but couldn't provide any other details.

"I want to emphasize: There is no question of secret trials; there is no question of juryless trials; there is no question of any sort of internment," said Britain's chief legal official, Lord Chancellor Charles Falconer told the British Broadcasting Corp radio. "What is being suggested is... just a sensible period to detain suspects while a sensible investigation is going on."

- SAPA