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Police Terror Stop Powers Stripped Following European
Court Ruling
Government revokes draconian powers, another
victory for liberty
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Police powers to stop and search anyone without reasonable suspicion
under terrorism laws have
been revoked by the British government following
a recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that stated
they were illegal.
The Home Secretary Theresa May today stated:
"In order to comply with the judgment, but avoid pre-empting
the review of counter-terrorism legislation, I have decided
to introduce interim guidelines for the police."
"I am therefore changing the test for authorisation for
the use of section 44 powers from requiring a search to be 'expedient'
for the prevention of terrorism, to the stricter test of it
being 'necessary' for that purpose. And, most importantly, I
am introducing a new suspicion threshold." the home secretary
told the Commons.
She added: "Officers will no longer be able to search
individuals using section 44 powers. Instead they will have
to rely on section 43 powers, which require officers to reasonably
suspect the person to be a terrorist. And officers will only
be able to use section 44 in relation to the searches of vehicles.
I will only confirm these authorisations where they are considered
to be necessary, and officers will only be able to use them
when they have 'reasonable suspicion'."
The move represents a victory for those who have campaigned
against the consistent abuse of the powers and the hundreds
of thousands of innocent citizens, including photographers
and journalists,
who have been subjected to the humiliation of being accused
of being terrorists by police while merely going about their
daily lives.
The use of the powers by the police was originally ruled
illegal by the European Court in January, a decision
that paved the way for protesters, photographers and everyday
citizens to fight back against such gross invasions of privacy.
The previous government attempted to challenge that decision,
however, permission
to do so was refused and the European Court also
announced that any future appeals would not be accepted.
The court in Strasbourg referred to stop and search powers
as not in "accordance with the law", and a violation
of article eight of The European Convention on Human Rights
– the right to respect for private and family life.
Article eight states that "everyone has the right to respect
for his private and family life".
Furthermore: "There shall be no interference by a public
authority with the exercise of this right except such as is
in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic
society in the interests of national security... or the prevention
of disorder or crime... or for the protection of the rights
and freedoms of others."
Judges noted that there is no grounds for considering the powers
"necessary", and that they are only "expedient",
adding that there is a "clear risk of arbitrariness in
granting such broad discretion" to a police officer.
They also stated that the searching clothing and belongings
interferes with the right to privacy as it involves an element
of humiliation and embarrassment.
The use of the powers and their authorisation is "neither
sufficiently circumscribed, nor subject to adequate legal safeguards
against abuse", according to the court.
The court also highlighted a lack of judicial oversight, stating
"The absence of any obligation on the part of the officer
to show a reasonable suspicion made it almost impossible to
prove that the power had been improperly exercised".
The ruling refers to the case of Kevin Gillan and Pennie Quinton
who were detained for attending a
protest outside Europe’s biggest arms fair
in London in September 2003.
Having finally achieved justice after more than six years of
pursuing the matter, the pair were awarded €33,850 (£30,400)
in costs and expenses. The full judgment is online here.
Gillan and Quinton, who like many others could have just walked
away, should be commended as heroes for their efforts to defend
freedom in the UK. They have paved the way for the total defeat
of the draconian terrorism laws and helped push for a complete
rejection of such abuses of power in the future.
The powers, which were initially conceived only to be used
in emergency situations, have come under more intense scrutiny
recently following the publication of multiple sets of figures
highlighting huge increases in stops with a relatively miniscule
success rate.
In May 2009, data
released to the BBC revealed that the Metropolitan
Police in London used section 44 of the Terrorism Act more than
170,000 times in 2008 to stop people in the capital. That figure
equated to stopping and searching a member of the public every
three minutes under terrorism laws.
The figures represented a more than 140% increase on 2007 numbers.
Of all the stops in 2008, only 65 led to arrests for terror
offences, a success rate of just 0.035%. Furthermore, when you
take into account how many of those arrests have translated
into convictions, according to the Home Office, you come up
with a round figure of 0.0%.
A separate Freedom of Information Act request in 2009 also
revealed that the use of the stop and search power has increased
exponentially by over
ten times in less than ten years.
Furthermore, Ministry
of Justice statistics, published in mid 2008, revealed
that from 2006-2007 police used their powers to stop (but not
search) nearly two million members of the public and demand
they account for their behavior or actions, a rise of one third
from the previous year.
This meant that in just one year around 3.5% of the entire
British population was stopped in the street by the police under
suspicion of terror related offences.
While not resulting in the prevention of any terrorism,
the section 44 powers have been most notably used against the
82-year-old Walter Wolfgang for heckling
Jack Straw at the Labour Conference; Sally Cameron
for walking
on a cycle-path in Dundee; the 80-year-old John
Catt for being caught on CCTV passing a demonstration in Brighton;
the 11-year-old
Isabelle Ellis-Cockcroft for accompanying her parents
to an anti-nuclear protest; and a cricketer on his way to a
match over his possession of a bat.
Separate revelations in June 2010 that 14 different police
forces in the UK had unlawfully
used stop and search powers in 40 operations dating
back to 2001 also provided the perfect pretext for scrapping
them altogether.
Related:
Film Maker Captures Absurdity, Empty Threats Of Police Terror
Stop Laws
Related:
London Police Attack Photographer, Claim "We Don’t
Have To Have A Law" To Detain You
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