April 25 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Home Secretary Charles Clarke today defended the government's use of ``control orders'' against suspected terrorists, saying they were a key safeguard against people who can't be prosecuted.

Clarke told an eight-person panel examining Britain's anti- terrorism laws that the orders, which can impose curfews, travel bans and other restrictions, have only been authorized in ``exceptional'' circumstances, when intelligence indicates a person poses a serious threat to the public.

``I defend it categorically,'' Clarke told the Eminent Jurists Panel at a hearing in central London. The orders give ``some capacity for the state against people we don't feel able to pursue through the courts in a normal prosecution.''

Control orders were adopted in March 2005, after Britain's highest court ruled that the government's former policy of detaining foreign terror suspects in prison indefinitely breached human rights laws.

Civil liberties organizations, including groups that also testified before the Eminent Jurists panel this week, have urged the government to scrap the orders, claiming suspects aren't allowed to see the evidence against them and aren't given proper legal recourse.

A British judge earlier this month ruled that parts of the control order legislation were ``conspicuously unfair'' and incompatible with European human rights laws.

Clarke today rejected those arguments in his testimony, suggesting the panel may have failed to grasp the gravity of the terror threat.

``I don't think you understand,'' Clarke said. ``Do we just somehow pretend it's not there?''

He also told the panel that the control order legislation had received ``very substantial'' judicial scrutiny and that the government would continue to press for ways to safeguard the public within the existing legal framework.

Eleven people were under control orders at the start of March, according to the Home Office, including three British citizens.

To contact the reporter for this story: Megan Murphy in London at mmurphy41@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 25, 2006 13:30 EDT