A terror suspect control order has been revoked by the High Court - the first to be overturned following a landmark ruling by the House of Lords.
A judge declared the order imposed on suspect "AN", relying on secret evidence, could not be allowed to stand in the light of the law lords' decision.
But Human rights lawyers said the Home Secretary was already preparing to replace the old, flawed order with a new one, and the case exposed the "Kafkaesque" and "farcical" nature of control orders generally.
Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said: "Today's farcical proceedings highlight the nightmare of control orders and the 'heads we win, tails you lose' Home Office idea of justice." She added: "A handful of officials and specially-vetted lawyers have outlasted dozens of ministers and built their careers on punishment without trial - leaving Britain less safe and less free."
Ms Chakrabarti said the effect of anti-terror legislation was that some people had been subject to detention and community punishment for over seven years "on the basis of the Home Secretary's suspicions and secret intelligence which the suspect will never see".
In their recent ruling, nine law lords said AN and two others were not given sufficient information about the orders against them, which were imposed to protect the public against the possibility of a terrorist threat.
Lord Hope said: "The fundamental principle is that everyone is entitled to the disclosure of sufficient material to enable him to answer effectively the case that is made against him."
AN is suspected by the security services of intending to travel abroad for terrorism-related purposes and acting as a link between London-based extremists and al Qaida-linked overseas extremists. He is also suspected of being involved in "attack planning, likely to have taken place in the Middle East". He had repeatedly travelled there.
The Home Secretary also says there is evidence that AN "openly advocated support for violent extremist activities" and "facilitated extremists to participate in terrorist-related activities overseas".
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Lawyers for Home Secretary Alan Johnson launched an 11th hour bid to maintain AN's control order, despite the law lords ruling out the use of secret evidence. But Mr Justice Mitting, sitting at the High Court in London, rejected the bid in the light of the law lords' groundbreaking judgment.
