Terrorism

BBC Radio 4's Law in Action was broadcast on Friday, 18 March 2005 at 1600 GMT.

The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 finally received Royal Assent last Friday night and the Home Secretary promptly signed specifically tailored control orders to restrict the movements and activities of 10 terrorist suspects.

The suspects aren't under house arrest - that's something allowed for in the new Act but requires the Home secretary to derogate, or depart from, the European Convention on Human Rights. But the control order restrictions are very wide-ranging: they include electronic tagging to enforce a 7pm-7am curfew, a ban on using mobile phones and the internet, and strict limits on meeting people. Solicitors for the suspects have said the new orders are unworkable.

To find out, we spoke to Lucy Scott Moncrieff, solicitor to 3 of the suspects, to advise Clive Coleman on what he would, and wouldn't, be able to do if he was under a similar order.

Shield Law

The drama at the Michael Jackson trial in California continued to mount this week. But it's not only the defendant's fate that hangs in the balance. British journalist Martin Bashir remains under threat of imprisonment if Judge Rodney Melville finds that he was in contempt of court for asserting his right to a journalist's 'shield' in refusing to answer questions relating to, amongst other matters, the number of hours of film footage omitted from his controversial documentary about the singer.

What happens to Martin Bashir could have a dramatic effect on the outcome of the trial. If the judge finds against him, and sends him to jail, his entire testimony could be thrown out, along with the prosecution's use of the documentary 'Living With Michael Jackson', which forms a major part of their case.

Much then depends on Judge Melville's interpretation of the so called 'Shield Law' which protects journalists from answering certain questions in court. We speak to American constitutional lawyer Floyd Abrahams, to find out exactly how 'Shield Law' works, and UK media lawyer, Dan Tench, explains how things are a bit different in the UK.

Murder prevention

Can you prevent a murder before it happens? It's a tantalizing idea. And that's exactly what the Metropolitan Police's 'Homicide Prevention Unit' is trying to do. Jon Silverman reports.