The British Home Secretary Mr David Blunkett suffered a major embarrassment yesterday as nine terror suspects won their appeal against their detention without trial.
In a finding which threatened to plunge Britain's anti-terrorism legislation into turmoil, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission agreed their detention was "discriminatory and unlawful" and incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
The British government had exercised its right to derogate from Article 5 of the Convention in order to put the power to detain or intern foreign nationals in the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act, rushed through parliament in the aftermath of September 11th last year.
However the Commission found that the Act was discriminatory because the government had not also opted out of Article 14 of the Convention, banning discrimination, and had thus created a disparity between foreign nationals and UK citizens to whom the legislation does not apply.
And the Commission appeared to hand Mr Blunkett a political hot-potato by suggesting that it might not be sufficient to schedule a derogation from Article 14, so raising the possibility that the government might ultimately be forced to abandon its legislation or risk popular opposition by extending the internment powers to apply also to British nationals.
The nine remained in custody in the high security Belmarsh Prison last night after the Commission's chairman signalled the ruling might be "of little or any assistance" to them if parliament acted to amend the legislation to deal with the discrimination issue.
Mr Blunkett immediately served notice of his appeal, which may end-up in the House of Lords. Home Office Minister Ms Beverley Hughes expressed delight that the Commission found for the government in asserting that there was "a public emergency" and that the power of detention was a proportionate response to it. She insisted the public would understand why it was necessary to treat foreign nationals, who could be deported, differently from British citizens. The Court of Appeal hearing is expected to take place on October 7th.