Freezing terror suspects' assets ruled illegal
Freezing terror suspects' assets ruled illegal
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By Matt Hallam. |  |
Wednesday, 27, Jan 2010 05:25
By Alex Steger.
The UK supreme court has today ruled Treasury orders that freeze the assets of terror suspects are unlawful.
In the ruling on Wednesday the court said the government should have sought the approval of Parliament rather than automatically creating the asset freezing regime.
The judges said that the government had exceeded its power with the freezing of the assets of five terror suspects.
The highest court in the UK also lifted reporting restrictions on identifying those who challenged the orders.
The ruling means it is likely the government will ask Parliament to enact a revised set of the orders before the supreme court's ruling comes into force. In practice the Treasury has been given a month to sort out some related issues and lower courts will look at other aspects of the orders.
The two asset freezing orders were bought in by then-chancellor Gordon Brown. The orders, the Terrorism Order 2006 and the al- Qaeda and Taliban Order 2006, were made under the 1946 UN Act in order to implement resolutions of the UN Security Council. Both orders became law without passing through Parliament.
The five men who challenged the legality of the orders argued that they went beyond what the UN had set out to do by targeting those accused of links to terrorism, rather than just those convicted at trial.
Under the measures the Treasury issued the men with licences for specific purposes, such as claiming benefits. They were allowed about £10 a week in cash and had to provide receipts for everything they spent.
Lord Phillips, president of the supreme court, said: "Nobody should conclude that the result of these appeals constitutes judicial interference with the will of Parliament.
"On the contrary, it upholds the supremacy of Parliament in deciding whether or not measures should be imposed that affect the fundamental rights of those in this country."