In a letter to the editor of the Financial Times, Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe has argued that the decision in the case of Abu Qatada assists the UK government to strike a balance between security and justice.
Bulletin readers may recall that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled in that case that Mr Qatada would not be deported to Jordan because of the risk of torture-based evidence that would be produced during a Jordanian trial. Jagland states in his letter that "the formal decision on whether this would be enough to allow for extradition to go ahead is not for me to make, but there is a strong case to argue that assurances which are valid to protect the physical integrity of Mr Qatada should also be valid to protect the legal integrity of his trial."
This, he argues, places Jordan and the UK in a favourable position: the former can now consolidate its international reputation so that torture and human rights violations are now in the past, and the latter can maintain the values and standards the country has developed over centuries. The only group that are isolated by this decision, he argues are the extremists.
Click here to see his letter in full from the Financial Times (free subscription required).