Detention without charge or trial

I read in The Independent yesterday that a recent survey by Communicate Research has shown that 28% of Labour MPs would like to see the 28 day limit for police to detain terror suspects increased to 60 days, whilst a further 36% would like it raised to 90 days.

Let's just put that into context. Magistrates' courts deal with 95% of all criminal cases in this country each year. The maximum period of custody that we can impose for a single offence is six months. However, if the defendant has pleaded guilty to that offence at the first opportunity, then we must allow credit for that guilty plea and reduce the sentence by one third. So for a guilty plea, four months would be the maximum.

These sentences are for offences at the top end of seriousness for all those that we deal with. That may be because the offence itself is particularly nasty, or because the defendant has so many previous convictions for similar offences that the court can see no option but to impose the maximum available to it.

But a custodial sentence of 4 or 6 months does not mean that the offender spends 4 or 6 months in prison. Only half of the sentence is served in prison; the offender is then released on licence to complet the remainder of the sentence in the community. If he/she complies with the terms of the licence, that's that. Only if he/she breaches the terms of the licence are they returned to prison. So what?

So this; a four month sentence is equal to 120 days, and a six month sentence to 180 days. The time spent actually in prison will be 60 days for a four month sentence and 90 days for a six month. What these MPs are saying, therefore, is that they are happy for people to be locked up without charge and without due process for the equivalent of the maximum time that the magistrates' courts can impose for their most serious offences. Call me an old softy if you like, but I find that attitude scary.