U.K. Attorney General Wants to Follow U.S. Wiretapping Model

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September 21, 2006 5:50 PM

Britain's attorney general is now urging that his own country follow the lead of the United States and permit the use of wiretaps as evidence in criminal trials.

Following a recent visit to the U.S. and meeting with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and senior prosecutors, British Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith is proposing that the U.K. follow the lead of the U.S. and allow prosecutors to use evidence obtained through wiretaps to make their cases.                     

Currently, evidence obtained through wiretaps is not admissible in U.K. courts. This is the first time a British official has spoken out in favor of wiretapping despite objections to such a change by Tony Blair and others.

The U.K. is one of only two countries in Europe, Ireland being the other, which refuses to allow wiretapping evidence to be used to prosecute criminals. Despite the controversy in the U.S. over recent wiretapping scandals, British civil liberties groups are voicing very few reservations about Lord Goldsmith's proposal.

Many civil rights advocates in the U.K. think that the use of wiretaps would allow British prosecutors to charge suspects more easily and sooner, rather than holding them in custody without charges.

"Our reluctance to use phone tap evidence in terror cases like most other countries is frankly mind-boggling," said Shami Chakrabati, director of the civil rights group Liberty U.K.

Lord Goldsmith's proposal has also received early support from British police and security forces, so long as suspected criminals do not gain insight into the wiretapping techniques.