The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the police should not have retained the fingerprints and DNA records of two men who had not been convicted of any offence. It said that keeping the information 'could not be regarded as necessary in a democratic society'.
Source: S and Marper v The United Kingdom, European Court of Human Rights (+33 0 3884 12018)
Links: Text of judgement | Liberty press release | HGC press release | ACPO press release | NO2ID press release | Nuffield Council on Bioethics press release | Conservative Party press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Dec
The government announced that it was suspending its attempt to extend to 42 days (from 28) the period for which people accused of terrorist offences could be held without trial. This followed the defeat of the measure in the Counter-Terrorism Bill by the House of Lords. The government published a separate draft Bill containing the defeated measure, which would be introduced when circumstances required it. The government also announced that it would remove clauses from the Counter-Terrorism Bill that would have given it power to intervene in inquests where sensitive information is involved (it had been proposed that such inquests would take place without juries, partly in private, with government-appointed coroners and counsel overseeing the evidence).
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Debate 13 October 2008, columns 620-631, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Draft Counter-Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Bill, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | Draft Bill | Liberty press release | NIHRC press release | Human Rights Watch press release | MCB press release | MPACUK press release | INQUEST press release | Telegraph report | BBC report (1) | BBC report (2) | FT report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2008-Oct
The government responded to a report by a committee of peers on the Counter-Terrorism Bill. It said that the proposal to extend the maximum period of pre-charge detention in the Counter-Terrorism Bill from 28 to 42 days was compatible with Article 5 of European Convention on Human Rights.
Source: Counter-Terrorism Bill: The Role of Ministers, Parliament and the Judiciary – The Government Reply to the Tenth Report from the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution, Cm 7482, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | Peers report
Date: 2008-Oct
A committee of the Council of Europe said that it had serious doubts as to the compatibility of certain elements of draft counter-terrorism legislation in the United Kingdom with the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Source: Proposed 42-day Pre-charge Detention in the United Kingdom, Council of Europe (+33 0388 412033)
Links: Report | Liberty press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Sep
The report of an independent 'citizens' inquiry' said that the police national DNA database (England and Wales) should be placed under the control of an independent statutory authority. There should be a 'vigorous nationwide information campaign' to explain why DNA samples were taken, how they were used, and why they were retained. Innocent people should have their profiles deleted.
Source: Bano Murtuja, Komal Adris and Junaid Ahmed, A Citizens' Inquiry into the Forensic Use of DNA and the National DNA Database, Human Genetics Commission (020 7972 1518)
Links: Report | HGC press release | ACPO press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Jul
The human rights watchdog in Northern Ireland highlighted a number of concerns regarding the protection of civil and political rights in Northern Ireland, including counter-terrorism legislation and the treatment of women and girls in prison.
Source: Submission to the United Nations' Human Rights Committee Under the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights: Shadow Report on the Sixth Periodic Report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (028 9024 3987)
Links: Report | NIHRC press release
Date: 2008-Jul
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the surveillance of citizens in public places. It said that technology provided a major opportunity to strengthen public service delivery, and should be used to meet changing expectations of the individual and the community – while ensuring that the approach adopted was 'proportionate, open and transparent'.
Source: A Surveillance Society? The Government Reply to the Fifth Report from the Home Affairs Committee, Cm 7449, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2008-Jul
A report by a committee of MPs said that the potential for surveillance of citizens in public spaces and private communications had increased dramatically over the previous decade. It recommended that the Home Office exercise restraint in collecting personal information, and address the question of whether or not surveillance activities represented proportionate responses to threats of varying degrees of severity.
Source: A Surveillance Society?, Fifth Report (Session 2007-08), HC 58, House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | ICO press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Jun
The government published a delivery plan for the introduction of identity cards, together with a document setting out plans for introducing compulsory ID cards for foreign nationals. The aim was that 90 per cent of foreign nationals would have ID cards by 2015, and 100 per cent by 2017. Airport workers and other workers in security-sensitive jobs would also need an ID card from 2009. Students would be encouraged to get ID cards on a voluntary basis from 2010. From 2011-12, all passport applicants would be registered on the scheme as they applied for the new biometric passports containing fingerprints: British citizens enrolled in this way would be able to choose whether to have a passport or an ID card, or both.
Source: National Identity Scheme Delivery Plan 2008, Home Office (0870 000 1585) | Introducing Compulsory Identity Cards for Foreign Nationals, Home Office
Links: Plan | Foreign nationals scheme | Home Office press release | Speech | Liberty press release | NUS press release | REC press release | Personnel Today report | Telegraph report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Mar
An independent review examined how to maximize the economic and social advantages of having the most effective personal identity assurance systems and infrastructure. The 'highest level of trust' required to prove the scheme was socially, politically, and financially viable would not be achieved unless important aspects of its operation were taken out of the hands of central government. The government should drastically reduce the amount of personal data stored by the national register and make the enrolment and the cards themselves free of charge.
Source: James Crosby, Challenges and Opportunities in Identity Assurance, HM Treasury (020 7270 4558)
Links: Report | HMT press release | FT report
Date: 2008-Mar
A joint committee of MPs and peers on human rights published its first annual report. The Human Rights Act was under threat, frequently and inaccurately derided as a charter for terrorists, criminals, and illegal immigrants.
Source: The Work of the Committee in 2007 and the State of Human Rights in the UK, Sixth Report (Session 2007-08), HC 270 and HL 38, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons) Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Feb
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers said that proposals in the Counter Terrorism Bill to give the Home Secretary powers to remove juries from coroners' inquests involving material affecting national security had the 'most serious implications' for the United Kingdom's ability to comply with the obligation in article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights to provide an adequate and effective investigation where an individual had been killed as a result of the use of force.
Source: Counter-Terrorism Policy and Human Rights (Eighth Report): Counter-Terrorism Bill, Ninth Report (Session 2007-08), HC 199 and HL 50, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons) Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2008-Feb