From 2000 to the present, the British Parliament passed a series of Terrorism Acts that were aimed at terrorism in general, rather than specifically focused on terrorism related to Northern Ireland. The timings were influenced by the September 11, 2001 attacks and 7 July London bombings, as well as the politics of the Global War on Terrorism, according to the politicians who announce them as their response to a terrorism act.
Between them, they provided a definition of terrorism 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.
The Terrorism Act 2000 (text)gave a broad definition of terrorism for the first timeprovided for an extended list of proscribed terrorist organizations 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 personThe Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 (text)passed in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attackscontained 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 climateThe Criminal Justice Act 2003doubled 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 (text)established the "control order" which is a form of house arrestwas subject to extended Parliamentary dispute which lasted for over 50 hourspassed just in time to be applied to the Part 4 terrorist suspectsThe Terrorism Act 2006 (text)drafted in the aftermath of the 7 July 2005 London bombingsdefines the offence of "glorifying" terrorismrevises the period of detention of terrorist suspect without charge up to 28 daysthe government had asked for this to be 90 days, but was defeated in a votejustified 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 2006 (text)gives effect to Resolution 1373 of the United Nations Security Council (2001)allows the Treasury to freeze the assets of suspected terroristsreplaces the Terrorism (United Nations Measures) Order 2001was ruled ultra vires and void by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in 2010The Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 (text)allows police questioning of suspects after they have been chargedrequires 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 overseasdefeat of government attempt to extend period of detention without charge to 42 daysoriginally interpreted as banning all photographs of the police in public placesThe Coroners and Justice Act 2009extends sentencing provisions in Criminal Justice Act 2003 to terrorism offencesThe Terrorism (United Nations Measures) Order 2009 (text)gives effect to Resolution 1373 of the United Nations Security Council (2001)allows the Treasury to freeze the assets of suspected terroristsreplaces the Terrorism (United Nations Measures) Order 2006criticised by the Supreme Court in 2010The Terrorist Asset-Freezing (Temporary Provisions) Act 2010 (text)passed in response to the Supreme Court's ruling that the Terrorism (United Nations Measures) Order 2006 was voidretrospectively legitimises the 2006 Order to give Parliament time to enact new legislationexpires on 31 December 2010The Justice and Security Act 2013The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015In 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) 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, an Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation has reviewed the operation of the UK's principal anti-terrorism laws, reporting to the Home Secretary and to Parliament.
