ANNEX A
The current framework of legislation
1.1 The principal legislative measures in the United Kingdom for countering terrorism are contained in the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989 (PTA), and the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1996 (EPA), as amended by the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1998.
The Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989
1.2 The PTA extends with some important exceptions to the whole of the United Kingdom. (The exceptions are generally provisions which do not extend to Northern Ireland because equivalent or other provision is made for such matters in the EPA.) Part I, comprising sections 1 - 3 and Schedule 1, provides for the proscription of terrorist organisations. Sections 2 and 3 make it an offence to belong to, or solicit support, other than money or property, for a proscribed organisation or to display support for such an organisation in public. Part II, comprising sections 4 - 8 and Schedule 2, enables the Secretary of State to make an order excluding an individual from entering, or remaining in, either Great Britain, Northern Ireland or the whole of the United Kingdom, where it appears to him to be expedient to prevent acts of terrorism. Part III, comprising sections 9 - 13 and Schedule 4, deals with financial assistance for terrorism, including making it an offence to solicit money or property intending that it be used to commit or further acts of terrorism and to solicit, or contribute, money or other property to any proscribed organisation.
1.3 Part IV of the PTA, comprising sections 13A - 16 and Schedule 5, gives the police special powers to stop, search, arrest, and detain those suspected of being involved in the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism. Part IVA, comprising sections 16A and B, creates offences of possessing articles intended for terrorist purposes, and collecting information likely to be useful to terrorists. Part IVB, consisting of sections 16C and D and Schedule 6A, empowers the police to set up cordons in order to investigate the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism and to impose parking restrictions to prevent acts of terrorism. Part V of the Act, comprising sections 17 - 19 and Schedule 7, gives the police special powers to investigate terrorist activities, including powers to examine financial and other records held by third parties, and to enter and search property.
1.4 Sections 1 - 8, 10 and 18 apply only in relation to Irish terrorism. The remainder of the PTA applies to Irish and international terrorism.
The Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1996
1.5 Part I of the EPA, consisting of sections 1 - 16, creates the system of Diplock Courts for the trial of certain offences by judges alone. These offences are known as "scheduled offences" and are set out in Schedule 1 to the Act. Part II, comprising sections 17 - 28 gives the police and members of Her Majesty's Forces general powers of stop, search and arrest. Part III and Schedule 2 make provision for the proscription of terrorist organisations in Northern Ireland. Sections 30 and 31 make it an offence to belong to, or display or solicit support, other than money or other property, for a proscribed organisation.
1.6 Part IV, comprising section 36 and Schedule 3, which contained the Secretary of State's powers to detain without trial persons suspected of being terrorists, was repealed by the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1998, which came into force on 8 April 1998.
1.7 Part V (sections 37 - 44) covers the regulation of private security services. Part VI, consisting of sections 45 - 48, gives those detained under the PTA in Northern Ireland the right to have a friend or relative informed of their detention and to have access to legal advice. Parts VII and VIII contain various miscellaneous provisions. These include a power for the Secretary of State to issue codes of practice in connection with the detention and questioning of persons under the PTA in Northern Ireland. Section 53 makes provision for the silent video-recording of interviews.
1.8 Although the EPA contains a number of provisions which refer to, or amplify, the powers contained in the PTA as they apply in Northern Ireland, the EPA itself extends only to Northern Ireland.
The Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1998
1.9 The Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1998, which came into force on 8 April 1998, extends the life of the EPA 1996 by 2 years. It makes provision for the introduction of audio-recording of police interviews with terrorist suspects, and for a code of practice to be made governing audio-recording. It also makes it possible for more offences to be certified out of the list of scheduled offences, at the Attorney General's discretion, thus allowing them to be tried by jury in the ordinary way. The 1998 Act repealed the power of executive detention (internment) which had been available under previous Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Acts.
1.10 Both the PTA and the EPA define terrorism as the "use of violence for political ends [including] any use of violence for the purpose of putting the public or any section of the public in fear".
New provisions - the Criminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Act 1998
1.11 The Criminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Act 1998 was introduced as emergency legislation on 2 September 1998 following the Omagh bomb of 15 August and bombings in Kenya and Tanzania the same month. It received Royal Assent and came into effect on 4 September.
1.12 Sections 1 and 2 of the Act provide, by amendment of the PTA and the EPA respectively, that where an accused is charged with the offence of membership of a proscribed organisation, a statement of opinion from a police officer of or above the rank of Superintendent that the accused is or was a member of a specified organisation (that is, a proscribed organisation which is not maintaining a complete and unequivocal ceasefire) shall be admissible as evidence. They also provide that where the question of whether the accused belonged to a specified organisation is being considered, certain inferences may be drawn from the accused's failure to mention, when being questioned or charged, any material fact which he could reasonably have been expected to mention. These extended inferences can only be drawn where the accused was permitted to consult a solicitor before being questioned.
1.13 The Act specifically provides that an accused cannot be committed for trial or be found to have a case to answer or be convicted on the basis of inferences allowed by the Act alone, or the statement of a police officer alone.
1.14 Section 3 amends the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989 so as to enable the arrest and detention under that Act of persons suspected of certain offences in Northern Ireland relating to proscribed organisations. It brings the law on such arrests and detentions in Great Britain and Northern Ireland into line.
1.15 Section 4 confers power on the courts to order the forfeiture of property of a person convicted of the offence of membership of a proscribed organisation which is also a specified organisation. The property in question must have been in the possession or control of the convicted person and been used in relation to the activities of the specified organisation, or the court must believe it may be so used unless forfeited. This section also provides that, before making a forfeiture order, the court must give an opportunity to be heard to anyone other than the convicted person who claims to have an interest in the property that is liable to be forfeited.
1.16 The above provisions, since they form part of, or are closely aligned with, the PTA or EPA, are subject to annual renewal in the same way as those Acts. In addition, the Secretary of State is required by the legislation to submit to Parliament at least once every year a report on the working of the whole of the Act.
Conspiracy
1.17 Sections 5 - 7 make it an offence to conspire in the UK to commit an offence abroad. The Act provides that the substantive act must constitute an offence both under the law of the UK and under the law of the country in which it is or was to be committed. The consent of the Attorney General will generally be required for proceedings under this part of the Act to be instituted.
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