The panel which hears appeals from foreign terror suspects detained without trial has been dubbed "shoddy" by a civil rights solicitor.
Gareth Peirce said she was shocked by the workings of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).
She spoke at an inquiry by the Commons Constitutional Affairs Committee.
Neil Garnham QC said the defence operation was a bit "one man and his dog" - with no solicitor to see the closed material or expert assistance.
Eleven foreign terror suspects detained without trial have the right to have their cases heard by SIAC, which sits in secret.
'Deceitful'
They are being held under anti-terrorism laws applying to foreign suspects which are due to expire on 14 March.
The government is proposing a new system of control orders after the law lords ruled last month that detentions without trial broke human rights laws.
Ms Peirce and Mr Garnham gave evidence just hours before Home Secretary Charles Clarke unveiled controversial new powers to put terror suspects under house arrest.
"It's something of a feeling of being one man and his dog - or perhaps two men and their dogs - trying to analyse what is invariably voluminous material and is often complex material"
Ms Peirce, solicitor for former Guantanamo Bay detainees Moazzam Begg and Richard Belmar, said she had been shocked at the removal of all the rights of a criminal trial.
"What was being said was: 'You're guilty of criminal offences, we know you are'," she said.
"'We can't go near a court and we don't want to go near a court and so we're going to have this shoddy process where you're not told the evidence, where it's heard in secret, where you're lawyers can't investigate, where you'll never know what's happening and you'll never know a length of sentence'.
"All of this all in one is deceitfully suggested as being an immigration situation, but now it's being broadened to everybody, potentially."
Lives 'endangered'
The government introduced new laws because it believed there were individuals in the UK who were a potential threat but it could not deport back to regimes known for human rights abuses.
It argues that much of what is presented in court is of such sensitivity that it would endanger lives or ongoing operations were it to be aired in public.
"We have no secretariat. We have no solicitor who can see the closed material. We have no expert assistance on which we can call"
Two lawyers representing the foreign suspects resigned in protest at the continued detention of the 11 suspects after the law lords' ruling.
During the committee hearing, Mr Garnham, one of the special advocates given clearance to represent detainees before SIAC, said he would continue his role in the system, although he did have concerns.
"I take the view that I'm more likely to do good by being in there and being involved than not being involved," he said.
"There are ways in which the system could be improved."
Mr Garnham said he was particularly worried about the manner in which special advocates were able to review material.
"We have no secretariat. We have no solicitor who can see the closed material. We have no expert assistance on which we can call," he said.
"It's something of a feeling of being one man and his dog - or perhaps two men and their dogs - trying to analyse what is invariably voluminous material and is often complex material.
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