Deportation

Lord Falconer is considering new laws forcing judges to take more account of national security when deciding whether to deport terror suspects.

The lord chancellor said the proposed changes would allow Britain to deport undesirable foreigners while abiding by the Human Rights Act.

He denied it would put the government on a collision course with judges.

Ministers face a legal battle to deport ten foreign nationals to countries with poor human rights records.

Lord Falconer said he wanted the same weight to be given to national security concerns as a suspect's human rights.

He denied he was seeking to tell the judiciary how to interpret the law.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 Today's programme The Lord Chancellor said: "I want a law which says the home secretary, supervised by the courts, has got to balance the rights of the individual deportee against the risk to national security.

"That may involve an act which says this is the correct interpretation of the European [human rights] convention."

He said he was not seeking conflict with judges and that it was for Parliament to decide the right response.

"Nobody suggests for one moment that that would remove from the judges any degree of discretion in determining individual cases," he said.

"It would provide the basis with which that discretion was exercised."