Last June the law lords dealt a major blow to the controversial use of control orders on terror suspects, a key part of the government’s battle against terrorism since the July 2005 bombings, saying that reliance on secret evidence denies them a fair trial. Read the full story

Control orders under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 impose curfews and travel restrictions on terror suspects who cannot be prosecuted in courts because the evidence against them has been collected by bugging the suspect or because using it could reveal intelligence sources. Read the full story

The Home Office recently published a consultation document and draft regulations to implement a European Directive requiring the retention of electronically generated data. The consultation document states that this is “to enable public authorities to undertake their lawful activities to investigate, detect and prosecute crime Read the full story

An earlier blog (10.06.08) contrasted ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, where 42 is the answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything, with the Government, for whom 42 is more a problem than an answer. Read the full story

According to ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, 42 is the answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything. But for the Government, 42 is more a problem than an answer.

Given that the number of days a suspect spends in detention before trial is a not a scientific exercise but an uneasy compromise, how can it be that 42 has achieved the status of a threat to the leadership of the government? Read the full story