It’s not just UK law-makers who will be left red-faced after today’s Supreme Court ruling that orders which freeze the assets of terror suspects are unlawful.
Similar legislation has been applied in the Isle of Man and a trawl, via Manx government websites, to find details of those who might be affected by these `unlawful’ acts provides a direct link to those listed on UK government sites.
In ruling that special Treasury orders which freeze the assets of terror suspects were unlawful the UK Supreme Court said that the UK government had exceeded its powers by controlling the finances of five suspects. They also lifted a ban on identifying the men who brought the challenge. The five men involved in the case have only been allowed a token £10 a week in cash with special authorisation needing to be sought for other expenses.
The UK Supreme Court has given UK lawmakers a window to `fix’ the judicial abuse by suspending its final judgement for a month. This will provide lawmakers with an opportunity to change the law so it can go ahead and lawfully freeze alleged terrorist assets. In the meantime, suspects will continue to have their assets frozen.
The latest anti-terrorism legal fiasco follows earlier unease in judicial circles at the way in which politicians have subverted civil liberties by introducing draconian measures without proper scrutiny.
The situation is compounded in the Isle of Man where UK anti-terror provisions are transcribed into Manx law on the back of UK legislation with only a cursory examination by the legislature.
The Celtic League for over a decade criticised the Isle of Man governments `nodding donkey’ approach to adopting UK ant-terrorism procedures and once again it seems those criticisms have been vindicated.