Its director, John Wadham, claims there will be a substantial increase in the surveillance of phones and e-mail.

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John Wadham, director of civil rights organisation Liberty, described the law as "a fundamental part of our criminal justice system".

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Educated at Dynevor School, Swansea, he went onto study at Christ's College, Cambridge, and at Christ Church and Wadham Colleges, Oxford.

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He studied classics at Wadham College, Oxford from 1923 and went on to become a well-known member of the Auden group of poets and intellectuals in the 1930s.

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Mr Wadham admits that high-profile investigations such as that into the shooting of Mr Menezes have pushed aside inquiries into more minor, albeit more pervasive, kinds of police misconduct.

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The head of the civil rights group Liberty, John Wadham, admitted it would be counter-productive to allow all those targeted by the police to find out if their phones were tapped.

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Ahead of his Shayler's release, Mr Wadham, said it was expected his client would return to the island of Osea, off the coast of Essex, where he has been living with Ms Machon.

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Mr Wadham, who has been in regular contact with his client since the government writ was served in the High Court shortly before Christmas, said Mr Shayler's defence against the claims would be submitted on Monday.

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