National security: Plans for 'secret inquests' face defeat in Lords

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* Alan Travis, home affairs editor
* The Guardian,
* Wednesday August 13 2008


Ministers' plans to hold in secret inquests that are deemed to put national security at risk are expected to face defeat when the House of Lords votes on them this autumn. A cross-party committee of peers, including a former lord chief justice and two former attorney-generals, has told the government that any decision to hold an inquest without a jury must be taken by a judge and not a minister.

It is expected that peers will block the measure in October unless ministers are prepared to climb down over the right of ministers to exercise the power.

The move reflects the growing protests from coroners, lawyers, MPs and families of terror victims over the plan since it was revealed as part of the government's counter-terrorism bill in February. Debate over the "secret inquests" measure has been overshadowed by the legislation's proposal to extend the pre-charge detention of terror suspects to 42 days.

The provision contained in section 63 would allow the home secretary to stop a jury being summoned, replace the coroner with a government appointee and bar the public from inquests if it is certified that an open hearing would put national security at risk.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/aug/13/terrorism.uksecurity