The former Irish President and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, today warned the British government over its anti-terror laws.
She warned new Home Secretary Mr Charles Clarke to act on a ruling by the Law Lords yesterday that suspected terrorists cannot be held without trial.
Mrs Robinson said she was "troubled" by Mr Clarke's response to the Law Lords' judgment. It could even leave the government open to being sued for damages, she suggested.
A decisive 8-1 judgment stated that detention of foreign terror suspects who cannot be deported because of the threat of execution broke European human rights laws.
Mr Clarke said it was for Parliament to consider what to do next, and in the meantime the suspects posed a threat and would remain behind bars.
However, Mrs Robinson said that would not have been the reaction of the Irish or US governments.
"It would be very troubling if the government did not accept the judgment and then work within it," she told BBC Radio 4's Todayprogramme.
"If the government were not to accept this ruling then there is further redress including possible damages for the individuals who could claim that the government was either tardy or was resisting the implications of the judgment of the law lords."