Address to the Bar Council conference: Control orders

Control orders were introduced by the PTA 2005 which came into force on 11 March 2005. They were introduced after the House of Lord found the previous regime incompatible with article 5 of the ECHR in the Belmarsh case .In that case the House of Lords reversed a decision of the Court of Appeal which had upheld the right of the Secretary of State to detain suspected terrorists.

There are according to the Secretary of State for the Home Department now only 9 control orders in place all of which are in respect of British nationals. This shows a marked reduction but many of the previous orders have been revoked. As you know control orders are highly controversial because they seek to resolve conflicts of interest of great importance in constitutional and personal liberty terms. They have been upheld as being capable of complying with the requirements of the ECHR.