Ex-AG against 90-day detention
Lord Goldsmith would have resigned over the 90-day limit
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Wednesday, 21, Nov 2007 05:15
Former attorney general Lord Goldsmith has admitted he opposed the government's plans to detain terror suspects for 90 days without trial.
Tony Blair's government suffered its first defeat in the Commons on November 9th 2005 when MPs rejected proposals to hold terror suspects for 90 days without charge.
Lord Goldsmith told the House of Commons' home affairs committee today that had the government won the vote, which it lost by a margin of just 31, he would have been forced to resign.
"If the 90-day proposal had come from the Commons unamended, I would have found it impossible to vote for it in the Lords," he said.
MPs amended the government bill to double the existing permitted detention period from 14 to 28 days.
"There needs to be a limit to this," Lord Goldsmith explained, referring to what he described as "important constraints" placed against the need to protect UK citizens from terrorism.
"To keep somebody in detention without charging them surely you need to continue to have reasonable suspicion, even if you can't prove it at that stage, that they have committed an offence," he added.
"The question to my mind is how likely is it that you get to a period like 28 days… and that by continuing to detain them you are going to find evidence with which to charge them.
"While any limit is arbitrary I thought we were in the right place with the decision which the Commons ultimately took on the time limit."
Lord Goldsmith spoke out against the 90-day plans in November 2006, saying he had not seen evidence justifying any extension from the 28-day limit.
He remained in his post as attorney general until Mr Blair stepped down as prime minister earlier this year.