Torture - Law lords rule against govt
WORKERS, JAN 2006 ISSUE
Seven judges in Britain's highest court ruled on 8 December that intelligence extracted by torture is not admissible in any British court.
The Law Lords unanimously overturned an appeal court judgment of August 2004 that such evidence could be used if it was obtained abroad from third parties and if the British government had not condoned or connived in the torture. The appeal court had ruled that the government need not inquire into whether evidence supplied by foreign countries had been obtained by torture.
The judgement ensures that the fruits of the US policy of 'extraordinary rendition' - flying suspects to foreign countries for interrogation - would never be admissible in British courts.