Veteran MP and lawyer Lois Browne Evans yesterday warned a bid to toughen up anti-stalking laws eroded basic human rights.

Mrs. Browne Evans said the law was overlooking "the fundamental principle that a man's home is his castle.'' And she added: "As we are going around to the millennium we are creating a police state with Big Brother and cameras watching you.'' Mrs. Browne Evans was speaking as MPs debated an amendment to previously-passed anti-stalking laws -- later passed.

The move, if approved by Senate, means that Police can enter a home without a warrant if they have "reasonable cause'' to believe a stalking offence is taking place.

But Mrs. Browne Evans said: "It almost seems we are at the stage where warrants will become of no use.'' She added that, as a defence lawyer of decades' standing, she had "a great abhorrence'' for vague phrases like "reasonable cause.'' Mrs. Browne Evans claimed: "Reasonable cause and rumour are almost quoted with each other -- and unless you're rich, you can't take a case to prove there was no reasonable cause.'' And she added the real answer to the problem was "to train up'' young men and children to be responsible -- rather than "stamping on all these rights.'' But she stressed that she and the Opposition would support the change -- but called for reassurance that someone would "police the police'' to make sure the new law was not being abused.

The amendment -- brought forward by Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Maxwell Burgess -- allows Police to enter premises without a warrant if they believe a stalking offence is taking place or a protection order is being violated.

Officers will also be able to arrest suspects who have committed, or is about to commit a stalking offence, while the courts will get new powers to issue temporary protection orders following an arrest.

The amendment also allows for alleged offenders to be brought before the courts within 48 hours of arrest, or as soon as possible thereafter.

But Mrs. Browne Evans warned that circumstances across the world had shown that Police "cannot operate with a halo.'' But Minister without Portfolio Kim Young backed the change and pointed out that stalking was not a single offence -- but a "campaign of harassment.'' She said: "Stalkers can put people in a state of anguish and anxiety because they don't know when it's going to happen again.'' Shadow Labour and Home Affairs Minister Alex Scott said it was important to "avoid excess.'' Government Whip Quinton Edness -- a former Home Affairs Minister -- said: "I don't see where the Government can possibly feel there is going to be abuse in this particular case.

"This amendment is to do with giving Police the power to arrest, which they do not have, when an offence is obviously taking place.'' Mr. Edness added: "We all know of cases in the past where laws like this could have saved a life. I think what this House tries to do is strike a balance.'' PLP MP Paula Cox said violence against women in Bermuda "was all too common.'' She said the amendment was "a magic bullet'' hoping to hit a target -- but without "doing collateral damage.'' And she called on other initiatives -- like joint Police/community groups as recommended by the Task Force on Women's Issues -- to be used in conjunction with the new legislation.

MPs yesterday also passed: The Psychological Practitioners Act 1998, which will protect people who need psychological treatment from unqualified doctors. The legislation covers the registration of psychologists and the regulation of the profession; and The two clause Criminal Code Amendment Act 1998, which clarifies the circumstances in which a person commits racial harassment. Deputy Premier Jerome Dill said the legislation dealt with "the issue of racial slurs when individuals are in a face to face situation''.

Full reports in Monday's paper Lois Browne Evans