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Lawyers back use of intercept evidence

Lawyers have backed prime minister Gordon Brown’s announcement that the government intends to allow intercept evidence to be allowed in criminal trials.

The announcement followed publication of the Chilcot Report, which recommended that this form of evidence, gained from covert interception of private communications such as phone calls and e-mails, should be admissible in criminal trials.

However he cautioned that the move should only be made once a legal framework had been developed to meet the concerns of the intelligence services.

Eric Metcalfe, director of human rights policy at JUSTICE, welcomed the announcement.

“Using intercept evidence in criminal trials is not rocket science,” he said. “The intelligence services in the United States, Canada and Australia have coped with it for many years. A suitable legal model should not be hard to find.”

Andrew Holroyd, Law Society President, said the case for relaxing the absolute ban on the use of intercept evidence was overwhelming, and the Society would help develop a legal framework compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights and a defendant's right to a fair trial.

Commenting on the government plans to extend pre-charge detention to 42 days, he said : “There is no evidence of any need to increase the already lengthy 28 day period.

“The decision to allow the use of intercept evidence in court should help to reduce the length of time suspects need to be detained.”

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