Counter-Terrorism Act 2008
Official Summary
A Bill to Confer further powers to gather and share information for counter-terrorism and other purposes; to make further provision about the detention and questioning of terrorist suspects and the prosecution and punishment of terrorist offences; to impose notification requirements on persons convicted of such offences; to amend the law relating to asset freezing proceedings under United Nations terrorism orders; to amend the law relating to inquests and inquiries; to amend the definition of “terrorism”; to amend the enactments relating to terrorist offences, control orders and the forfeiture of terrorist cash; to provide for recovering the costs of policing at certain gas facilities; to amend provisions about the appointment of special advocates in Northern Ireland; and for connected purposes.
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Overview
This Counter-Terrorism Bill aims to strengthen the UK's ability to combat terrorism, primarily focusing on data access, pre-charge detention limits, and the disclosure of sensitive information during inquests. The House of Commons and Lords disagreed on several key amendments, leading to a revised bill.
Description
Fingerprint and Sample Database Guidelines
The Lords proposed national guidelines for accessing and deleting fingerprint and sample data held by government agencies. The Commons rejected this due to potential cost implications.
Pre-charge Detention
The Lords attempted to explicitly prevent the extension of pre-charge detention beyond 28 days. The Commons disagreed, stating the amendment was legally redundant.
Re-ordering of Clauses
Significant changes were made to the bill’s structure, moving clauses around for better organization and removing others. Some clauses were removed entirely, and others were re-ordered, clarifying the bill's intended focus.
Disclosure of Intercept Evidence in Inquests
The Lords proposed allowing disclosure of intercept evidence in inquests under specific circumstances (involving High Court judges), while the Commons rejected this, citing concerns over sensitive material disclosure to the public.
Government Spending
The Commons rejected the Lords' amendment regarding national guidelines on fingerprint and sample databases due to concerns about additional public funding. No specific figures were provided.
Groups Affected
This bill affects several groups:
- Individuals whose data is held by government agencies: The proposed guidelines regarding access and deletion of fingerprint and sample data directly impacted this group.
- Suspects in terrorism investigations: The proposed changes to pre-charge detention limits potentially affect this group.
- Coroners and inquests: The proposed changes regarding the disclosure of intercept evidence in inquests affected coroners, juries, and legal representatives involved in such proceedings.
- The Public: The bill’s changes around the sharing of sensitive information in inquests could restrict information access to the public.
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