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Post-charge questioning supported | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Police could be allowed to question suspects after they are charged, under proposals being considered by the government, the lord chancellor says. | |
Lord Falconer said that post-charge questioning may be "very sensible" and might not be limited to terrorism cases. | |
Such a change would have a relatively minor effect on civil rights, he said. | |
Officers cannot question a suspect once charged. Police have been pushing for longer pre-charge detention periods. | |
Lord Falconer was speaking after giving a speech at a Royal United Services Institute conference on politics and terrorism. | |
You could have post-charge questioning which is one of the things we are looking at Lord Falconer | |
He hinted at forthcoming new anti-terrorism laws, saying Home Secretary John Reid had already indicated that the government would seek to extend the pre-charge detention period. | |
And he added: "You could have post-charge questioning which is one of the things we are looking at. | |
"It may be a very sensible thing to do." | |
'Terrorists' charter' | |
In November the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith also said he favoured a change in the law to allow suspects to continue to be questioned after charge. | |
The UK's top police officer, Metropolitan Police chief Sir Ian Blair, also backs the change. | |
In his speech Lord Falconer called for a change in the perception that the Human Rights Act is a "terrorists' charter". | |
He said human rights were not a "straightjacket", but were the values which mark society out as being "different" from terrorists. | |
On some occasions it would be necessary to infringe on an individual's rights for the sake of the wider community, he said. | |
He also told the Royal United Services Institute that lawyers should let policy-makers decide how best to confront terrorism. | |
"Whilst the response must be lawful, the policy-makers not the lawyers must determine that response, and whilst legislation will have its role, it will only be a part of the response," he said. | |
And he suggested it was time to tone down the language used in the debate about terror laws. | And he suggested it was time to tone down the language used in the debate about terror laws. |
"We are in a struggle about values that will ultimately be decided by winning hearts and minds, and as such we must consider the impact that our counter-terrorism policy and our counter-terrorist legislation may have on the communities that we seek to protect." | |