The peer in charge of reviewing the Government's anti-terror legislation today poured cold water on proposals to use the treason laws against Islamic clerics accused of inciting violence.

Ken Macdonald, QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions, is studying remarks published in the media by three prominent radical clerics, including Omar Bakri Mohammed, to see if a prosecution could be mounted on a charge of treason.

He has held discussions with Lord Goldsmith, QC, the Attorney-General, and further talks are expected this week between the CPS and Scotland Yard.

But Lord Carlile, the barrister and Liberal Democrat peer who reviews the functioning of anti-terror laws, said today that he would be "very surprised" if any treason charges were ever brought.

"I think it's remotely possible, but treason law is very specific," Lord Carlile told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "I suspect that there are far more appropriate crimes already on the statute book that might be used.

"I would be very surprised if treason was used. It's very important in a criminal prosecution to place before the jury the acts which have been committed in a context that refers to them in the form of a charge - and I doubt if treason is the appropriate charge."

The last person convicted in Britain under the Treason Act was Marcus Simon Serjeant, a 17-year-old jailed for five years in 1981 after shooting a starting pistol at the Queen as she rode past in the Trooping of the Colour.

The most famous treason prosecution in modern Britain was that of William Joyce in 1945. Joyce, or Lord Haw Haw as he was known, was an American or Irish descent who broadcast pro-Nazi propaganda from Berlin during the Second World War. He was executed on the grounds that he had held a British passport during the 1930s, even though he had lied to obtain that document.

Lord Carlile added: "I dont think that there is a lawyer still alive and working who has appeared in any part of a treason case and I think we should tread in that historic territory very carefully. Treason tends to apply to war between nations."

The three clerics that prosecutors are said to be focusing on are Omar Bakri Mohammed, Abu Izzadeen and Abu Uzair.

The prosecutors are likely to seek access to tapes made by an undercover Sunday Times reporter who reportedly recorded members of the radical Saviour Sect praising the bombers who killed themselves and 52 people on July 7 as "the fantastic four".

The difficulty facing the authorities is that spokesmen for radical Islamist groups are generally careful during media interviews to avoid saying anything that might suggest that they approve of violent attacks in Britain. But the authorities are carefully studying the remarks made last week.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Phoebe Caldwell wins Times/Sternberg Award
• Raging against fake pop has its own pitfalls
• How a voice for everyone led to stalemate