Member state variations
- Detention:
There is great controversy at present in the UK about proposals for an increase to the period a suspect can be detained without charge from 14 to 90 days. Some argue this is necessary, others that it is internment.
It is pointed out as a justification for the UK proposals that in some EU jurisdictions, suspects can be held before trial for periods of years. However, the roman and the common law systems are fundamentally different and comparison is difficult. In mainland Europe the detention power is posited on review by an independent senior judge, whereas in the present UK proposals it would be sanctioned merely by a magistrate. That the rules vary widely was the finding of a recent UK Home Office report which attempted to study the equivalency of police powers in terrorist cases in various countries. It looked at France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada and Australia.
- Other measures
In other ways, the culture of policing varies widely throughout Europe. In the UK, there are CCTV cameras on every corner, whereas in France there are few and in Italy the filming of life lived outdoors would be thought unacceptably intrusive. In France, however, interior minister Sarkozy has announced CCTV cameras will be widely installed in the wake of arrests of suspected terrorists on 26 September 2005.
And in Italy, every-day phone conversations are routinely bugged (leading to scandals such as that involving banking chief Antonio Fazio ) and there have been calls for tougher safeguards on privacy. In the meantime, the European Commission is pushing its own proposals for the retention of details of phone calls and e-mails (though not for the bugging of content) (see EurActiv 21 Sept 2005).
European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)
The UK is at present the only European government to have derogated from the European Convention. According to its own independent reviewer (Lord Carlile – see ‘Positions’ below) current proposals risk further breaches of human rights legislation. Continuing derogation by the UK will be necessary to maintain the detention orders issued under the 2005 Terrorism Act, passed to deal with the situation of the Belmarsh detainees.
Terrorist financing
Since Sept 11, much international effort has gone into stemming the "lifeblood of terrorism", as President Bush puts it: financing. A recent article in The Economist, however, argues that these efforts, involving collecting and verifying a vast amount of data, are a costly waste. Regulations impose heavy compliance costs on banks and therefore on customers and are not effective in catching the tiny number of terrorist transactions.
Meanwhile a number of cases are pending in the European Court of Justice brought by organisations arguing that their assets have been frozen unjustifiably. These groups are pointing out that there is no effective procedure for challenging the names on the UN and EU lists of terrorist suspects (see EurActiv 22 Sept 2005).
Data retention
The same argument as above goes for data retention: if you collect data on absolutely everyone, it costs a fortune but does not necessarily help you to find the bad guys. This was the point made by the European Parliament when the idea was first raised of keeping for a specified time records of all phone and web communications in Europe. The Commission has now come up with a new proposal which has been endorsed by the Council and seems to be more acceptable to Parliament since a) they are being given co-decision powers and b) the time-limits for retaining data are stricter.
The fundamental point on the efficacy and utility of such measures, however, remains.
Biometrics
Identity documents are going biometric - everywhere. In Europe, biometric facial images and fingerprints will have to be in place by 2008. From 26 October 2005 all travellers wishing to enter the USA will need either a visa or a passport with a digital photo and by October 2006, they will need biometric data also. The UK is proposing to introduce identity cards with three separate biometric identifiers. The second generation Schengen information system (SIS II), which will contain information to be used for border control and tracking criminal activity will rely heavily on biometric data especially on immigrants and asylum seekers. The visa information system (VIS) will contain biometric data on visa applicants (see Biometrics LinksDossier).
United States
In the US, the main piece of legislation attracting controversy is the Patriot Act 2001, passed just 45 days after the September 11 attacks. Some sections of the Act had sunset clauses meaning that they expire but the government is currently trying to expand the Act and make it permanent. New proposals could allow the tracking of library books read, seizing of business and financial records and monitoring emails and web-sites visited (as in EU proposals).
