Terrorism laws come into force
Measures in the new Terrorism Act comes into force today
Thursday, 13, Apr 2006 12:00
The government's controversial Terrorism Act 2006 comes into force today, creating a new offence of glorifying terrorism.
It also becomes illegal to disseminate terrorist publications, plan for a terrorist attack, or either organise or attend a terrorism training camp.
Proposals to extend the maximum period of time terror suspects can be held without charge from 14 to 28 days were also included in the bill, but will not come into force until later as they are still under consultation with police constables.
Home secretary Charles Clarke said the legislation "seeks to strike the right balance between ensuring that our law enforcement agencies have the tools necessary to tackle terrorism, while at the same time upholding the freedoms we hold dear".
However, questions are being asked about the act this morning, following a high court ruling yesterday that another piece of the government's anti-terrorism legislation, the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005, was "incompatible" with human rights legislation.
The court found the system of control orders "conspicuously unfair" – prompting opponents to condemn the laws, which were introduced after the system of holding terror suspects indefinitely under a 2001 act was ruled illegal, as badly thought out.
And this morning, the government's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Lord Carlile, admitted the 2005 act had been introduced "rather hastily" – and suggested the new legislation may encounter similar problems.
"The problem with 2001 act, which has been much debated, and Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005, and the very recently enacted Terrorism Act 2006 is that they have been enacted rather hastily and one tends to legislate in haste and repent in leisure," he said.
Lord Carlile is currently reviewing the definition of terrorism, and the home secretary has promised to consolidate all the existing anti-terrorism laws into a single act of parliament, due to be published next year.
The latest legislation was highly controversial, with both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats opposing the new offence of glorifying terrorism in particular.
They argued that the definition of terrorism is too broad, and could in theory see people praising Nelson Mandela prosecuted, and consequently is unworkable. However, after rejecting it twice, the Tories finally abstained, and let the bill through.
Plans to extend the detention time also led to the government's first ever Commons defeat – ministers had originally proposed a new time limit of 90 days, but was forced to accept the 28-day compromise. The Lib Dems still oppose this measure, however.
But when the bill received its royal assent two weeks ago, Mr Clarke insisted: "Together they form a substantial package of measures which will strengthen the ability of the police and intelligence agencies to combat terrorism.
"These updated laws will create a more hostile environment in which terrorists find it more difficult to operate and assist us in tackling every part of the terrorist network."