The Government's system for monitoring terror suspects was thrown into jeopardy today when the High Court ruled that control orders were "conspicuously unfair".

In a judgment that threatens the entire anti-terror scheme, Mr Justice Sullivan declared that a British suspect's order was "incompatible" with the Human Rights Act, as it denied his human right to a fair hearing.

The Home Office, which only created control orders after losing a long legal battle last year over holding foreign terror suspects in prison without charge or trial, issued an angry statement saying that it did not accept the judgment and planned to appeal.

Under the Human Rights Act, which enshrined the European Convention on Human Rights into British law, people in the UK cannot be denied their civil rights without "a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law".

Control orders, issued by Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, to limit the freedoms of suspected terrorists, can be imposed without any judicial hearing.

Those served with an order are electronically tagged at all times, must be at home from 7pm to 7am, have their passports taken away and their phone lines cut.

Those living under the orders have complained that they are routinely woken in the middle of the night by unannounced visits from police and the security services, have inadequate access to mental healthcare and the lives of their families are ruined. Breaking the terms of the order is a criminal offence.

The suspect, referred to in court documents as "S", and by his solicitors as "MB", became the first British citizen to be placed under virtual house arrest when his control order was imposed by the Home Office on September 5 last year. He was suspected of wanting to travel to Iraq to fight against British and American soldiers.

Mr Justice Sullivan said today that S had had his passport taken from him and was forbidden to possess travel tickets or enter airports, train stations or ports. He had to report at a police station at the same time every day.

Despite these restrictions, he had never been accused of a crime in court.

"To say that the Act does not give the respondent in this case ... ‘a fair hearing’ in the determination of his rights under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights would be an understatement," said Mr Justice Sullivan.

The Home Office rejected Mr Justice Sullivan's ruling and said that the suspect's control order - as well as the other 11 currently in use - would remain in place while it plans its appeal. Mr Clarke will continue to issue orders as he sees fit.

"We do not accept the judgment of the court that the review procedure for control orders is incompatible with Article 6 (Right to a Fair Hearing) of the ECHR," a spokesman said.

"In our view the 2005 Act is fully ECHR compliant and contains rigorous safeguards to protect the rights of the individual, including judicial oversight and reporting and reviewing requirements. Accordingly, we plan to appeal."

According to the latest parliamentary update from Mr Clarke, 11 control orders are in use but there were reports last week that another had been issued. Four of the twelve suspects living under control orders are thought to be British.

Control orders were created last year after the House of Lords ruled that the detention of 12 foreign nationals without charge in Belmarsh High Security prison in London was illegal. The men were held for more than three years without charge after being arrested in the months after the September 11 attacks.

Eleven of the men, including Abu Qatada, a radical cleric described as al-Qaeda's spiritual leader in Europe, were released under control orders early last year. But nine were re-arrested in August pending their deportation to their countries of origin, a process that has been held up because those countries routinely torture terrorism suspects.

The use of control orders to limit the movements of British terrorism suspects started after the July 7 bombings in London. Soon after the attacks, Mr Clarke said that hundreds of suspects were under surveillance. At least three significant terrorist attacks have been thwarted since the summer, according to the Metropolitan Police.

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