28-day detention renewed despite civil liberty claims
By politics.co.uk staff
Civil liberties advocates responded angrily to a Home Office decision to extend 28-day detention for another six months today, despite clear signs from the government that it would soon shorten the period.
Former shadow home secretary and prominent civil liberties advocate David Davis said the decision was “unnecessary and regrettable”.
But the six-month extension is far shorter than the one year available to the government and the signs from the home secretary clearly indicate that the length of time individuals can be held without charge will soon be shortened.
The issue of pre-charge detention became a symbolic battle between civil liberties activists and the Home Office under Labour, with many observers noting that the government had effectively scrapped habeas corpus, considered by many constitutional historians to be the foundation of a free society.
Many activists will be concerned, despite friendly noises from the new government, that civil servants and security officials will now have the time to convince Theresa May that the 28-day period is necessary, despite the fact that no cases have required the entire 28-day limit.
“Six months in Whitehall passes a lot quicker than 28 days in a police cell without knowing why,” said Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti.
“The coalition has bound itself together with the language of civil liberties. Now it must reduce the longest pre-charge detention period of any western democracy.”
Mr Davis said: “There have been no cases in the last four years where it has been necessary to go beyond 21 days. Even the Heathrow plot, where innocent people were held for 28 days, it has now been proven that those that were charged after this lengthy period could have been charged in less than 14 days.
“This extension is therefore unnecessary and regrettable. It is to be hoped that after the 6 months review we will see an end not just to this unnecessarily authoritarian law, but also to control orders and their regime of house arrest, internal exile, and secret courts, all of which are an anathema of British standards of justice.”
Ms May said: “Whilst we would not wish to pre-judge the outcome of the review, both parties in the coalition are clear that the 28 day maximum period should be a temporary measure and one that we will be looking to reduce it over time.”
