From 2000 to 2015, the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...

passed a series of Terrorism Acts that were aimed at

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

in general, rather than specifically focused on terrorism related to Northern Ireland. The timings were influenced by the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

and

7 July London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamic terrorists in London that targeted commuters travelling on the city's public transport system during the mor ...

, as well as the politics of the global

War on Terrorism The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campaign are militant I ...

, according to the politicians who announce them as their response to a terrorism act. Between them, they provided a

definition of terrorism There is no universal agreement on the legal definition of terrorism, although there exists a consensus academic definition created by scholars. Various legal systems and government agencies use different definitions of terrorism, and governm ...

that made it possible to establish a new and distinct set of police powers and procedures, beyond those related to ordinary crime, which could be applied in terrorist cases.

List of legislation

;The

Terrorism Act 2000 The Terrorism Act 2000 (c.11) is the first of a number of general Terrorism Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It superseded and repealed the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989 and the Northern Ireland (Emer ...

br>(text)
:* gave a broad definition of terrorism for the first time :* provided for an extended list of proscribed terrorist organisations beyond those associated with Northern Ireland. :* allowed police to detain terrorist suspects for questioning for up to 7 days. :* allowed police to stop and search any person or vehicle in designated areas without the need to suspect that person ;The Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001br>(text)
:* passed in the aftermath of the

:* contained measures that had been rejected from the 2000 Act. :* allowed Ministry of Defence Police to operate outside of military bases even for non-terrorist cases. :* Part 4 enabled foreigners to be detained as terrorist suspects indefinitely. :* required annual renewal of some provisions in recognition of the political climate ;The

Criminal Justice Act 2003 The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is a wide-ranging measure introduced to modernise many areas of the criminal justice system in England and Wales and, to a lesser extent, in Scotland an ...

br>(text)
:* doubled the period of detention of a terrorist suspect for questioning to 14 days. :* justified by the claim that forensic analysis of chemical weapons materials might not be complete in 7 days. ;The Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 (Continuance in force of sections 21 to 23) Order 2003 :* renewed Part 4 of the 2001 Act. :* voted on specifically by Parliament due to its controversial nature. ;The

Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 (c 2) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, intended to deal with the Law Lords' ruling of 16 December 2004 that the detention without trial of eight foreigners (known as the 'Belmarsh 8') at H ...

br>(text)
:* established the "

control order A control order is an order made by the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom to restrict an individual's liberty for the purpose of "protecting members of the public from a risk of terrorism". Its definition and power were provided by Parliament in ...

" which is a form of house arrest :* was subject to extended Parliamentary dispute which lasted for over 50 hours :* passed just in time to be applied to the Part 4 terrorist suspects ;The

Terrorism Act 2006 The Terrorism Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that received royal assent on 30 March 2006, after being introduced on 12 October 2005. The Act creates new offences related to terrorism, and amends existing ones. Th ...

br>(text)
:* drafted in the aftermath of the

7 July 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamic terrorists in London that targeted commuters travelling on the city's public transport system during the mo ...

:* defines the offence of "glorifying" terrorism :* revises the period of detention of terrorist suspect without charge up to 28 days :** the government had asked for this to be 90 days, but was defeated in a vote :* justified by the claim that necessary evidence to decide charges might be encrypted on one of thousands of hard disks, and it could take this long to search them. ;The Terrorism (United Nations Measures) Order 200
(text)
:*gives effect to Resolution

1373 Year 1373 ( MCCCLXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * March 24 – The Treaty of Santarém is signed between Ferdinand I of Portu ...

of the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...

(2001) :*allows the Treasury to freeze the assets of suspected terrorists :*replaces the Terrorism (United Nations Measures) Order 2001 :*was ruled ''

ultra vires ('beyond the powers') is a Latin phrase used in law to describe an act which requires legal authority but is done without it. Its opposite, an act done under proper authority, is ('within the powers'). Acts that are may equivalently be termed ...

'' and void by the

Supreme Court of the United Kingdom The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (initialism: UKSC or the acronym: SCOTUK) is the final court of appeal in the United Kingdom for all civil cases, and for criminal cases originating in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. As the Unite ...

in 2010 ;The

Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 The Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 (c 28) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which increased police powers for the stated purpose of countering terrorism. The first reading of the bill was held in January 2008, and it received royal ...

br>(text)
:*allows police questioning of suspects after they have been charged :*requires convicted terrorist to notify the police of their whereabouts (similar to existing requirements for sex offenders) :*extends extra-territorial jurisdiction of courts over terrorism offences overseas :*defeat of government attempt to extend period of detention without charge to 42 days :*originally interpreted as banning all photographs of the police in public places ;The

Coroners and Justice Act 2009 The Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (c. 25) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It changed the law on coroners and criminal justice in England and Wales. Among its provisions are: *preventing criminals from profiting from publica ...

br>(text)
:*extends sentencing provisions in Criminal Justice Act 2003 to terrorism offences ;The Terrorism (United Nations Measures) Order 200
(text)
:*gives effect to Resolution 1373 of the

(2001) :*allows the Treasury to freeze the assets of suspected terrorists :*replaces the Terrorism (United Nations Measures) Order 2006 :*criticised by the Supreme Court in 2010 ;The

Terrorist Asset-Freezing (Temporary Provisions) Act 2010 The Terrorist Asset-Freezing (Temporary Provisions) Act 2010 is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament that was in force from 10 February 2010 until its repeal on 17 December that same year by the Terrorist Asset-Freezing etc. Act 2010. Summar ...

br>(text)
:*passed in response to the Supreme Court's ruling that the Terrorism (United Nations Measures) Order 2006 was void :*retrospectively legitimises the 2006 Order to give Parliament time to enact new legislation :*expires on 31 December 2010 ;The

Justice and Security Act 2013 The Justice and Security Act 2013 (c. 18) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, firstly to provide for oversight of the Security Service (MI5), the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ ...

br>(text)
;The

Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It came into force in July 2015. Provisions Part 1 Temporary restrictions on travel Part 2 Terrorism prevention and investigation measures Part ...

br>(text)
;The Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019br>(text)

Response

In February 2009, the Liberal Democrats published a Freedom Bill designed to repeal many of these laws (as well as others such as the

Identity Cards Act 2006 The Identity Cards Act 2006 (c. 15) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was repealed in 2011. It created national identity cards, a personal identification document and European Economic Area travel document, linked to a ...

) aimed at reversing the "cumulative loss" of civil liberties in Britain. In his comprehensive commentary on the anti-terrorism legislation, Professor Clive Walker of the University of Leeds comments:

The Terrorism Act 2000 represents a worthwhile attempt to fulfil the role of a modern code against terrorism, though it fails to meet the desired standards in all respects. There are aspects where rights are probably breached, and its mechanisms to ensure democratic accountability and constitutionalism are even more deficient, as discussed in the section on "Scrutiny" earlier in this chapter. It is also a sobering thought, proffered by the Home Affairs Committee, that the result is that "This country has more anti-terrorist legislation on its statute books than almost any other developed democracy." (Report on the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Bill 2001 (2001-02 HC 351) para.1). But at least that result initially flowed from a solemnly studied and carefully constructed legislative exercise.

Since the 1970s, a
Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation
has reviewed the operation of the UK's principal anti-terrorism laws, reporting to the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...

and to Parliament.

References

{{reflist

External links

A table of votes in Parliament on this legislation since 2001
Terrorism laws in the United Kingdom

List of legislation

Response

See also

References

External links