Summary
THE LATEST remarks of the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, will increase the tension in the Government's uneasy relationship with the judiciary. Lord Falconer has threatened legislation to force judges to take national security as well as human rights into account when ruling on deportations. His aim is to get around the persistent problems posed by article three of the European Convention on Human Rights - enshrined in British law as the Human Rights Act - which prohibits the return of people to countries where they might be subjected to torture or the death penalty. Of the 10 men who were arrested yesterday on the grounds that their presence was prejudicial to national security, preparatory to their deportation, nine come from Algeria, a country with a poor record on human rights. The Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, has been in negotiation with Algeria in drawing up a memorandum of understanding concerning the treatment of anyone sent back there; such an agreement has already been signed with Jordan. Yet it is still a matter of doubt whether the judges will accept the validity of such agreements: the men are likely to appeal against their deportation, a legal battle that could take up to a year. Lord Falconer's proposal is effectively for legislation which would reinterpret the ECHR to the Government's satisfaction. But it is highly questionable whether this could work legally - or indeed whether it is necessary. Other countries have found ways of reconciling the ECHR with their national interests - the French interior minister has just announced the summary deportation of a dozen Muslim agitators, and French judges have previously deported other radicals to Algeria. The British judiciary has thus far taken a very different view. Lord Falconer may yet be forced to consider abandoning the Convention altogether.
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