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THE government is facing yet another court climbdown after admitting its policies allowing spooks to snoop on communications between lawyers and their clients were unlawful.
Government lawyers admitted on Wednesday that safeguards to prevent the spying from taking place were inadequate and breached the European Convention on Human Rights rules.
They were forced to admit the safeguards were inadequate in response to a case being brought against the state by two victims of an MI6-orchestrated “rendition” operation.
The case centres on Abdul-Hakim Belhaj and Fatima Boudchar, who were tortured and rendered to Libya in 2004 in a joint MI6-CIA operation.
As a result, the government’s defence could now collapse at the next hearing of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal on March 10.
Reprieve director and one of the couple’s lawyers Cori Crider said: “By allowing the intelligence agencies free rein to spy on communications between lawyers and their clients, the government has endangered the fundamental British right to a fair trial.”
