The High Court held that the government is no longer allowed to refuse bail to terror suspects solely on the basis of secret evidence. The judgment came in response to the denial of bail to two suspects, known as U and Xc. U is an Algerian national and Xc is a Pakistani student, both arrested in April as part of anti-terrorism Operation Pathway. The government is seeking to extradite these men, who were described by Home Secretary Alan Johnson as “threats to national security”.

Mr Johnson condemned the court ruling, delivered by Mr Justice Laws and Mr Justice Owen, as “unhelpful”. He said he was “surprised and disappointed” by the decision, but pledged to “do everything possible to keep this country safe” as part of his “sole objective” of protecting the public. The High Court ruling follows a House of Lords ruling in June this year which held that suspects under control orders are entitled to a ‘core irreducible minimum’ of information on the case against them in order to prepare a defence.

The High Court also ruled that the Special Immigration Appeals Commission is not immune from judicial review, as contended by the government. This should lead to greater transparency in the UK immigration system.

The ruling was welcomed by human rights group Liberty whose director, Shami Chakrabarti, said: “Yet again it takes a senior judge to point out what most people already know – if the Government is going to lock you up, it needs to tell you why.”