Report on the Terrorism Acts in 2011
This report evaluated the risks posed by terrorism and the operation of the Terrorism Act 2000 and 2006 (the Terrorism Acts) in 2011.
It summarised the independent reviewer’s observations of the use of these powers in practice, and made recommendations in relation to each of them (22 in total). Read more…
Report on Control Orders in 2011
Government response, Cm 8443, September 2012
This report covers the last year of control orders and is intended as an epitaph on the control order system as a whole. It also looks forward to their replacement, terrorism prevention and investigation measures (TPIM). Read more…
Report on the operation of the Terrorist Asset-Freezing etc. Act 2010 in 2010/11
This report is the first on the 2010 Act. It provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the act’s provisions, its broader international and legal context, as well as analysis of the acts first 9 months in operation. Read more…
Review of the operation of the Terrorism Acts 2000 and 2006 in 2010
This report was the second produced by David Anderson QC as independent reviewer. It provided detailed analysis of the operation of the terrorism acts, and 11 recommendations.
Government response [to be supplied]
This report reviews the operation of the Terrorism Act 2000 during the Metropolitan Police Service investigation into a suspected plot to harm Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to the UK in September 2010. Read more…
Independent reports on the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Terrorism Act 2006
(this link will open in a new window)
Lord Carlile Q.C.’s reports of on the operation of the Terrorism Acts 2000 and 2006 in each of the years 2001-2008 may be accessed via the above link, together with the government’s responses to those reviews.
Lord Carlile’s final report (on the operation of the Terrorism Acts in 2009, published in 2010) is missing from the sequence and may be found here. There was no formal response to that report by the Coalition Government, which however set out its thinking in its Review of Counter-Terrorism and Security Powers in January 2011.
On 8 April 2009, a North West counter-terrorism unit (NWCTU) investigation, conducted in conjunction with Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and the Metropolitan Police Forces, resulted in the arrest of 12 Pakistani students for their alleged involvement in a terrorist plot. This investigation was known as Operation Pathway.
The case gave rise to deportation proceedings (before SIAC) and an unsuccessful attempt to apply for judicial review of the detention and search warrants: Sher, Farooq and Sharif v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police and others [2010] EWHC 1859 (Admin). The claimants in the latter case subsequently applied to the European Court of Human Rights (Applications nos. 29062/12, 26289/12 and 29891/12), which communicated their case to the Government in October 2013.
Both the Divisional Court and the European Court of Human Rights have referred to the report of Lord Carlile.
Lord Carlile’s report on the definition of terrorism, 2007
Government response Cm 7058, June 2007
The definition of terrorism triggers many powers, as well as contributing to the description of offences. Read more…