After eight months of secrecy, Liberty today succeeded in persuading the Special Immigration Appeals Commission to hear in public the case against interning 'terrorist suspects' without charge or trial. Although some have been hels in a high-security prison since December, this is these detainees' first chance to mount a legal challenge to the legality of their detention.

The Special Immigration Appeals Commission will convene in public next Wednesday and Thursday (17th-18th July) to hear representations on whether the detention of several alleged 'terrorist suspects' under the internment powers created in the Anti-terrorism, Crime & Security Act are lawful.

These powers were introduced in December 2001, when the UK also confirmed its derogation (effectively an opt-out) from the Article 5 protection against detention without charge or trial of the European Convention of Human Rights. Within days, eight people were seized and detained. Many of them are still in detention, along with a smaller number of more recent detainees.

Liberty has been given special permission to intervene at the hearing and to make submissions. We will be represented by David Pannick QC (Blackstone Chambers), Rabinder Singh QC (Matrix Chambers) and Murray Hunt (Matrix Chambers). The key issue at this hearing will be whether the derogation itself is lawful.

If Liberty is successful, the central part of the Anti-terrorism, Crime & Security Act would fall and all the suspects would have to be released immediately. Liberty, along with many other human rights experts, contends that the derogation is unlawful.

After the two-day public hearing on 17th and 18th July the court will go into private session - to consider secret accusations made by the Security Service which will not even be disclosed to those detained. The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) tribunal will comprise three judges, including SIAC president Mr Justice Collins. The hearings will be at 15 Breams Buildings, off Chancery Lane, London.

BACKGROUND
In February this year, Investigators from the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) paid a five-day secret visit to investigate the treatment of those interned in the UK under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. Liberty lawyers were amongst those helping the Committee with its enquiries.

The UK Government has not yet agreed to publication of the report from this visit by the CPT, which they received some months ago.

John Wadham, director of Liberty, says: "We told the Government and Parliament last November that this was unlawful and we would challenge it wherever we could. This challenge will be the focus of Wednesday's hearing.

"Arrests under these powers stamp all over basic principles of British justice and the European Convention of Human Rights - even the Government admits that. We pride ourselves on our traditions of fairness and justice. By locking people up without clear evidence or access to a proper trial, the Government has violated those traditions.

"If we have real evidence that these people are guilty of the very serious crimes alleged, then they should have been charged and put on trial. Imprisoning people without trial remains utterly unjust".

The Special Immigration Appeals Commission process is a limited and partly secret process. The person and his or her lawyer will not be entitled to see all the evidence and the appeal panel will have to exclude them when it hears that secret material.

The case [justifying their detention by justifying their definition as a person reasonably suspected by the Home Secretary of being terrorists] will not have to be proved beyond reasonable doubt, the presumption of innocence will not apply and the usual quality checks on the evidence will still be missing.