Ministers are not likely to pursue measures to extend to 90 days the time terrorist suspects can be held by the police without charge, the government's senior law officer has said.


Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith told the CCBE plenary session in Paris last week that the reduced extension to 28 days, voted for by MPs earlier this month, was likely to remain. 'Twenty-eight days is where we now stand and I believe we will continue to remain there,' Lord Goldsmith told delegates.


Tony Blair's government suffered its first Commons defeat when MPs rejected the 90-day proposal and then accepted an alternative increasing the time police can hold terror suspects without charge to 28 days from 14.


The Attorney-General came out batting for the government at the CCBE meeting. He told Europe's bar leaders that he was 'not one of those who believes that nothing is different than it was before 11 September 2001'.


Lord Goldsmith maintained that the scale of terrorist operations, the use of suicide bombing, the global nature of terror and the challenges of modern technology all combined to force governments to take extraordinary actions. Nonetheless, he said it 'is essential to preserve our democratic way of life and our commitment to the rule of law &150; these are the very values that the terrorists seek to destroy. And the European Convention on Human Rights is the very bedrock of the rule of law.'


However, Lord Goldsmith warned that 'rights are not only one-way. The rights of suspected terrorists are not the only rights that matter. The rights of ordinary citizens are equally important. But any restriction on rights must be imposed with reference to the rule of law and be subject to proper safeguards, such as judicial scrutiny'.


The British government had not been panicked into legislating by the London bombings last July, he insisted. 'What has been formed is the culmination of detailed policy development. And there is a danger of a knee-jerk reaction from the civil liberties side. Times have changed, and it doesn't follow that the old way of doing things will now still be right.'


In a statement on the balance between security and justice, the CCBE said it was 'deeply concerned about the increasing tendency in Europe to fight terrorism through the proposal and adoption of case-by-case legislation after each terrorist attack.' It also criticised member state legislation for being 'of doubtful quality' and of having 'consequences for the pillars of European civilisation and values.'