The Government is planning legislation instructing judges how to interpret the Human Rights Act in cases involving national security, the Lord Chancellor confirmed this morning.

Judges are preparing for a trial of strength with the Government over its determination swiftly to deport ten Islamic extremists arrested yesterday.

Charles Clarke described the men picked up in early morning raids as a threat to national security. They included the cleric, Abu Qatada, described as "al-Qaeda’s spiritual ambassador in Europe", as disclosed in The Times yesterday.

Ministers are determined to get rid of militants who allegedly stir up hatred, and they have warned the courts not to block plans to expel foreign undesirables. The deportations are regarded as the first test of judges’ willingness to accept Tony Blair’s assertion that "the rules of the game have changed".

Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor, said that the new law would oblige judges to give equal weight to national security as to the rights of the individual when considering deportation cases.

"All law operates on the basis that if the facts change then the law changes, and the law is going to change," he said. "We have got to get the right balance and ultimately where the balance lies is a matter for Parliament."

Asked about the planned legislation this morning, Lord Falconer said it "may involve an act which says: ‘This is the correct interpretation of the European Convention.'"

Lord Falconer stressed that judges would still have room to determine how the law was applied in individual cases.

"I want a law which says that the Home Secretary, supervised by the courts, has got to balance the rights of the individual deportee against the risk to national security," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"Nobody suggests for one moment that that would remove from the judges any degree of discretion in determining individual cases," he said. "It would provide the basis with which that discretion was exercised."

Lawyers for the ten men and human rights groups warned the Government that it faces a fight that could take up to three years and cost about £2 million.

Gareth Peirce, who acts for seven of the ten men detained yesterday, complained that the Government had already "deliberately" made access to her clients difficult. She called the diplomatic deals with Jordan and Algeria that the Home Office is hoping to use to deport her clients "insane and dangerous".

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