Terrorism Act 2000

As of September 2023, the following 79 organisations appeared in Schedule 2 of the Act, to which they have been added periodically since March 2001 by statutory instruments, and are listed under the above heading in the Home Office document 'Proscribed Terrorist Organisations:[11]

The following 14 organisations have appeared in Schedule 2 of the Act since it came into force[14] and are listed under the above heading in the Home Office document 'Proscribed Terrorist Organisations' under the collective description "organisations in Northern Ireland that were proscribed under previous legislation". They are armed paramilitary groups proscribed because of involvement in the Troubles;

• Continuity Army Council (CAC)
• Cumann na mBan
• Fianna na hÉireann, a name claimed by multiple groups
• Irish National Liberation Army (INLA)
• Irish People's Liberation Organisation (IPLO)
• Irish Republican Army (IRA), a name claimed by multiple groups
• Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF)
• Orange Volunteers
• Red Hand Commando
• Red Hand Defenders
• Saor Éire
• Ulster Defence Association (UDA)
• "Ulster Freedom Fighters" (UFF), a cover name for UDA
• Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)

• Mujaheddin e Khalq (MeK) was removed from the list in June 2008, as a result of judgements of the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission and the Court of Appeal.
• International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) was deproscribed in March 2016.
• Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) was deproscribed in December 2017.
• Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) was deproscribed in November 2019.

Section 41 of the Act provided the police with the power to arrest and detain a person without charge for up to 48 hours if they were suspected of being a terrorist.[15] This period of detention could be extended to up to seven days if the police can persuade a judge that it is necessary for further questioning.[16]

This was a break from ordinary criminal law where suspects had to be charged within 24 hours of detention or be released. This period was later extended to 14 days by the Criminal Justice Act 2003,[17] and to 28 days by the Terrorism Act 2006.

The most commonly encountered use of the Act was outlined in Section 44 which enables the police and the Home Secretary to define any area in the country as well as a time period wherein they could stop and search any vehicle or person, and seize "articles of a kind which could be used in connection with terrorism".[18] Unlike other stop and search powers that the police can use, Section 44 does not require the police to have "reasonable suspicion" that an offence has been committed, to search an individual.[19]

In 2009, over 100,000 searches were conducted under the powers, but none of these resulted in people being arrested for terrorism offences. 504 were arrested for other offences.[20]

In January 2010, the stop-and-search powers granted under Section 44 were ruled illegal by the European Court of Human Rights. It held that Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights had been violated in the case of two people stopped in 2003 outside the ExCeL convention centre in London, which at the time was hosting a military equipment exhibition. The Court found the powers were "not sufficiently circumscribed" and lacked "adequate legal safeguards against abuse", over-ruling a 2003 High Court judgment upheld at the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords.[21]

Pending new powers in the Protection of Freedoms Bill (see Section 47A), Theresa May made a remedial order under the Human Rights Act 1998 (the Terrorism Act 2000 (Remedial) Order 2011), which had the effect of repealing sections 44, 45, 46 and most of section 47.[22][23]

Members of the public and the media do not need a permit to film or photograph in public places and police have no power to stop them filming or photographing incidents or police personnel.

— London Metropolitan Police Service, Photography Advice[24]

As discussed above, since 18 March 2011 section 44 has been treated as repealed. It has been replaced with a new section 47A by the Terrorism Act 2000 (Remedial) Order 2011. Under the new provisions, searches can only be carried out as follows:

A senior police officer must make an authorisation in relation to a specified area or place. He can make such an authorisation only if he:[23]

• reasonably suspects that an act of terrorism will take place, and
• considers that:
  • the authorisation is necessary to prevent such an act,
  • the specified area or place is no greater than is necessary to prevent such an act, and
  • the duration of the authorisation is no longer than is necessary to prevent such an act.

When such an authorisation is in force, any constable in uniform can, in the specified area or place, stop:[23]

• a vehicle, and search:
  • the vehicle,
  • the driver of the vehicle,
  • a passenger in the vehicle, and
  • anything in or on the vehicle or carried by the driver or a passenger,
• a pedestrian, and search:
  • the pedestrian, and
  • anything carried by the pedestrian.

But the power to search can only be used for the purpose of discovering whether there is anything which may constitute evidence that:[23]

• the vehicle concerned is being used for the purposes of terrorism, or that
• the person concerned is or has been concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.

The power conferred by such an authorisation may be exercised whether or not the constable reasonably suspects that there is such evidence.[23] A person or vehicle searched under this power may be detained for as long as is reasonably required. A person who is searched may be required to remove their headgear, footwear, outer coat, jacket or gloves, but nothing else whilst in public. If requested, a form must be given stating that the person/vehicle was stopped.[23]

An authorisation can be given by an Assistant Chief Constable (or if the area is in the Metropolitan Police District or the City of London, then a Commander of the Metropolitan Police/City of London Police).[23] Authorisations can also be given by the Assistant Chief Constables of:

• the British Transport Police, in relation to railway property,
• the Ministry of Defence Police, in relation to military land, ordnance factories or dockyards, or other places where the Ministry of Defence Police have an agreement to police (some gas terminals)
• the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, in relation to nuclear power stations and associated land, and land up to 5 kilometres from such places.

If given verbally, authorisations must be confirmed in writing as soon as reasonably practicable, and in either case must be notified to the Home Office as soon as reasonably practicable. Authorisations must be confirmed by the Home Office within 48 hours of their being made, or they expire automatically. If confirmed, an authorisation can only last for up to 14 days. An authorisation can be cancelled at any time, or restricted in respect of the time it ends or the area which it covers, but it cannot be expanded. New authorisations can be made regardless of whether previous authorisations exist, or have been cancelled or have expired.[23]

This section creates the offence, liable to a prison term of up to fifteen years, to collect, possess, or access, "information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism".

Sections 57–58: Possession offences: Section 57 is dealing with possessing articles for the purpose of terrorist acts. Section 58 is dealing with collecting or holding information that is of a kind likely to be useful to those involved in acts of terrorism. In 2019, the Section was amended to include accessing such information online in the definition of the offence. Section 57 includes a specific intention, section 58 does not.[25]

Bilal Zaheer Ahmad, 23, from Wolverhampton, is believed to be the first person convicted of collecting information likely to be of use to a terrorist, including the al-Qaeda publication Inspire.[26][27]

Part 7, comprising sections 65 to 113, contained particular provisions applying to Northern Ireland, that were to require parliamentary approval on an annual basis by means of a statutory instrument to continue in force. The part replaced previous provisions under the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1996.

Part 7 was succeeded by the Terrorism (Northern Ireland) Act 2006, which in turn was succeeded by the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007.

Section 75 provided for bench trials instead of jury trials in Northern Ireland for scheduled offences, continuing the system of Diplock courts first established in 1973.

• Section 59 inciting terrorism overseas: England and Wales - same penalty as under the appropriate Act
  • (a) murder,
  • (b) an offence under section 18 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 (wounding with intent),
  • (c) an offence under section 23 or 24 of that Act (poison),
  • (d) an offence under section 28 or 29 of that Act (explosions), and
  • (e) an offence under section 1(2) of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 (endangering life by damaging property).
• Section 60 inciting terrorism overseas: Northern Ireland - same penalty as under the appropriate Act
  • (a) murder,
  • (b) an offence under section 18 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 (wounding with intent),
  • (c) an offence under section 23 or 24 of that Act (poison),
  • (d) an offence under section 28 or 29 of that Act (explosions), and
  • (e) an offence under Article 3(2) of the Criminal Damage (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 (endangering life by damaging property).
• Section 61 inciting terrorism overseas: Scotland - same penalty as under the appropriate Act
  • (a) murder,
  • (b) assault to severe injury, and
  • (c) reckless conduct which causes actual injury.

• In October 2005, Sally Cameron was held for four hours after being arrested under the act for walking on a cycle path in a controlled port area in Dundee owned by Forth Ports. While cyclists were free to pass through the port zone, she was arrested and detained because she was a pedestrian and under suspicion of being a terrorist.

I've been walking to work every morning for months and months to keep fit. One day, I was told by a guard on the gate that I couldn't use the route any more because it was solely a cycle path and he said, if I was caught doing it again, I'd be arrested...The next thing I knew, the harbour master had driven up behind me with a megaphone, saying, 'You're trespassing, please turn back'. It was totally ridiculous. I started laughing and kept on walking. Cyclists going past were also laughing...But then two police cars roared up beside me and cut me off, like a scene from Starsky and Hutch, and officers told me I was being arrested under the Terrorism Act. The harbour master was waffling on and (saying that), because of September 11, I would be arrested and charged.[43]

• In July 2008, anti-terror police held a 12-year-old autistic boy with cerebral palsy and his parents whilst travelling on the Eurotunnel Shuttle rail service under Section 7 of the Terrorism Act. The child's mother was taken to an interrogation room and questioned on suspicion of child trafficking and released without charge. Kent Police later apologised for the incident.[44]
• In August 2013, while travelling home from a visit to Germany, carrying work in progress relating to classified US government documents to Glenn Greenwald in Brazil, David Miranda, 28, was detained by the Metropolitan Police Service at London's Heathrow Airport under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000.[45][46]

Photographic subjects questioned under anti-terror laws

Wimbledon railway station

St Paul's Cathedral

Christ Church Greyfriars

Railway locomotive, Milford Haven

• In September 2003, two people, Kevin Gillan and Pennie Quinton, intending to protest against the Defence Systems Equipment International (DSEI) show in London's Docklands, were stopped and searched under the Act. Quinton, who is a journalist, was ordered by police to stop filming the protest. The pressure group Liberty took the case to High Court where the Judge ruled in favour of the police.[36][47] Appeals to the Court of Appeal, and, in March 2006, to the House of Lords, failed. The case was then taken to the European Court of Human Rights, on the grounds of an alleged violation of Articles 5,8,10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court ruled that the stop-and-search powers of the police constituted a violation of the right to privacy.[48]
• Walter Wolfgang, an 82-year-old from London, was removed from the 2005 Labour Party conference for heckling Jack Straw. Wolfgang had shouted that Straw's policy on Iraq was "nonsense." When Wolfgang tried to re-enter the conference, he was stopped by police under the Terrorism Act, but was not arrested.[49] "The Terrorism Act was introduced by Tony Blair with the promise that it would be used only in the gravest of cases," James Ball complained in The Guardian in 2012, referencing Wolfgang's incident.[50]
• Over 1,000 anti-war protesters, were stopped and required to empty their pockets, on their way to RAF Fairford (used by American B-52 bombers during the Iraq conflict).[34]
• During the 2005 G8 protests in Auchterarder, Scotland, a cricketer on his way to a match was stopped at King's Cross station in London under Section 44 powers and questioned over his possession of a cricket bat.[34]
• In October 2008, police stopped a 15-year-old schoolboy in south London who was taking photographs of Wimbledon railway station for his school geography project. He was questioned under suspicion of being a terrorist. His parents raised concerns that his personal data could be held on a police database for up to six years.[51]
• In January 2009, Member of Parliament Andrew Pelling was questioned after photographing roadworks near a railway station[52]
• In April 2009, a man in Enfield was questioned under Section 44 for photographing a police car that he considered was being driven inappropriately along a public footpath. The police claimed (incorrectly) that the act made it illegal to take photographs of police officers and vehicles.[53]
• Trainspotters have frequently been subjected to stop and search. Between 2000 and 2009, police used powers under the Act to stop 62,584 people at railway stations.[54]
• In November 2009, BBC photographer Jeff Overs was searched and questioned by police outside the Tate Modern art gallery for photographing the sunset over St Paul's Cathedral, under suspicion of preparing for a terrorist act. Overs lodged a formal complaint with the Metropolitan Police.[55][56]
• In December 2009, renowned architectural photographer Grant Smith was searched by a group of City of London Police officers under Section 44 because he was taking photographs of Christ Church Greyfriars; although he was working on public ground, the church's proximity to the Bank of America City of London branch caused a bank security guard to call the police.[57]
• In June 2010, Metropolitan Police officers attempted to prevent a 15-year-old boy from photographing an Armed Forces Day parade in Romford, East London, citing "antisocial behaviour" and the Terrorism Act. A police misconduct hearing held in December 2011 found that the police had no legal power to prevent the teenager from taking pictures and that the police inspector involved in the incident had used abusive language in calling the boy "silly", "gay" and "stupid". The boy was awarded compensation and given an apology.[58][59]
• In October 2011, a man was challenged by security staff in the Braehead Shopping Centre in Glasgow after taking photographs of his own four-year-old daughter eating an ice cream in the centre. He was held by Strathclyde Police under the Terrorism Act and eventually released without charge.[60]

• Paul Golding was arrested after visiting Russia in October 2019. Paul Golding refused to provide PIN codes to his phone and laptop at Heathrow Airport and so he was arrested at the airport and convicted in February 2020 with a Conditional Discharge for 9 months and ordered to pay £21 in Victim surcharge and £750 in costs.[61]
• British journalist Kit Klarenberg, who works for The Grayzone, was detained at Luton airport on 17 May 2023. He was interrogated for over five hours about his reports on the British government and intelligence services, his work for The Grayzone and his opinions about the British government and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. His electronic devices, bank cards and memory cards were taken by police, who fingerprinted him, took DNA swabs, and photographed him.[62] The National Union of Journalists expressed grave concern over his arrest.[63]