Nine foreign terror suspects held indefinitely without charge in what critics have dubbed "Britain's Guantanamo" began a legal challenge against their detention at the UK's highest court on Monday.
The nine are among 11 men held under British emergency laws rushed through after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States which allow police to hold foreigners without trial if they suspect they are involved in terrorism.
To enact the legislation, Prime Minister Tony Blair's government had to declare an emergency and suspend parts of the European Convention on Human Rights, the only country to do so. Civil rights campaigners accuse both Britain and the US of trampling over the rule of law as they seek to combat the threat of terror attacks. Hundreds of demonstrators staged a protest on Sunday outside the top security Belmarsh jail in south London where some of the detainees are held.
Lawyer Ben Emmerson, representing seven detainees, told a rare sitting of nine law lords - the greatest number of senior judges that can hear a case - that the powers were illegal and Britain was in breach of international law.
"We say in a democracy it is unacceptable to lock up potentially innocent people without trial or any indication when, if ever, they are going to be released," he said.
Under the emergency law, the authorities must show only that they have "reasonable grounds to suspect" the detainees have links to terrorism, a standard far below the "proof beyond reasonable doubt" needed to convict them of an actual crime. The hearing is set to last four days and no verdict is likely for at least a month.