Balancing Human Rights and National Security in an Age of Terrorism: Two Decades after the UK Belmarsh Detainees Case

The response of the UK and some democratic states to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States elicited a burning discussion on the balance between security and the rule of law. A and others (Belmarsh detainees) case became the test case of that balance. The House of Lords decision that the provisions of the anti-terrorism legislation were unlawful was a powerful statement that even in times of threat to national security, the government must act strictly in accordance with the law. This paper examines the contextual import of the Belmarsh case. It seeks to enquire whether close to two decades after this landmark decision anything has changed in the rights protection regime of the UK, whether the judiciary has built on the momentum of the case to further protect human rights or whether they have remained deferential to the executive especially in matters of national security. It acknowledges that though progress has been made, the debate between personal liberty and national security remains an ongoing one.