Court to rule on torture evidence by torture

Britain's highest court will rule on whether a blanket ban should cover the use of evidence gained by torture after civil liberty campaigners won the right to take their case to the House of Lords.

Britain's highest court will rule on whether a blanket ban should cover the use of evidence gained by torture after civil liberty campaigners won the right to take their case to the House of Lords.

Fourteen human rights groups want the law lords to overturn last year's Court of Appeal ruling which in effect gave Britain a green light to trawl for evidence from torture victims across the world.

During that hearing, lawyers for 10 foreign terror suspects held without trial for more than three years argued that evidence from torture of detainees in American camps should have been excluded by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) which had upheld their detention. But Lord Justice Pill, sitting with two other judges, said he found "no error of approach" by SIAC. The men were certified by SIAC as being members of, or belonging to, or supporting or assisting, an international terrorist group.

Now the law lords have granted permission for 14 organisations, including Liberty and the Law Society, to make representations at the men's appeals to be heard between 17 and 20 October.