UK lawmakers call for use of wiretap evidence

LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters) British prosecutors should be allowed to use wiretap evidence in court cases and police ought to be allowed to quiz terrorism suspects after they have been charged with a crime, a parliamentary committee said today.

The measures were amongst a number of recommendations parliamentarians said could help Prime Minister Tony Blair's government balance its counter-terrorism strategy and maintain the UK's human rights obligations.

Blair has been widely criticised by civil rights groups for bringing in new tough powers such as the right to hold terrorism suspects without trial using control orders and extending the time people could be held for questioning without being charged.

The Joint Committee On Human Rights, which has also previously attacked Blair's counter-terrorism policies, which they said could alienate Muslims, said the government should concentrate on amending existing criminal legislation.

It reiterated calls for wiretap evidence to be used, making it easier to put suspects on trial rather than holding them under powers which do not allow them to challenge their detention.

''It (the committee) concludes that the ban on the use of intercept evidence in court should now be removed and attention turned urgently to ways of relaxing the ban,'' the report said.

Britain is almost unique among Western countries in barring the use of wiretap evidence in courts because of opposition from security services who say it would take up resources and put spies and informants at risk.

The committee also said that rather than holding suspects for longer, it would be better to lower the evidence threshold allowing prosecutors to bring charges.

In addition, the law should be changed to allow police to quiz suspects after they have been charged, and courts could also draw adverse inferences from suspects who refused to answer questions in these subsequent interviews.

Such measures ''should make it unnecessary to contemplate any further extensions to the maximum period of pre-charge detention of 28 days'', a move other lawmakers say is almost inevitable.

''We believe it is essential to avoid any counter productivity which, instead of enhancing protection, may well undermine it.

Justice must be seen to be done,'' the report said.

The lawmakers also cautioned against introducing investigating magistrates as in Spain or France, arguing they would not sit easily with Britain's tradition of an independent judiciary.

The committee recommended that all counter-terrorism legislation should have a shelf-life of five years and the creation of an independent monitoring body to check on the security and intelligence agencies should also be considered.

REUTERS MQA BD0925