The Erosion of Civil Liberties: Pre-Charge Detention and Counter-Terror Laws
| Author | Imran Awan |
| Date | 01 September 2011 |
| Published date | 01 September 2011 |
| DOI | 10.1350/pojo.2011.84.3.535 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
IMRAN AWAN
Senior Lecturer, Police Sciences, University of Glamorgan,
Pontypridd, South Wales
THE EROSION OF CIVIL
LIBERTIES: PRE-CHARGE
DETENTION AND COUNTER-
TERROR LAWS
The Terrorism Act 2000 was enacted in order to combat the
international threat. The subsequent events of 9/11 in 2001 and
July 7 in 2005 led to further legislation, resulting in the Anti-
terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, the Prevention of
Terrorism Act 2005 and the Terrorism Act 2006. The legisla-
tion created control orders, the right to detain suspects for 28
days and the offence of glorifying terrorist activities. Critics
argue that these offences infringe upon our civil liberties,
including the right to freedom of speech, the right to a fair trial,
and the right to freedom of association under the Human
Rights Act 1998 (HRA). The article will examine the chal-
lenges posed for the government by the counter-terrorism
legislation, namely the pre-charge detention rules under the
Terrorism Act 2006, as the civil liberties debate continues.
Keywords: civil liberties; communities; counter-terrorism
legislation; policing
Introduction
The article will examine the controversial pre-charge detention
regime introduced by the Terrorism Act 2006 (c. 11). This arises
out of the government’s argument that the methods and tech-
niques terrorists are now capable of using are both highly skilled
and sophisticated, and that terrorists may be able to use com-
puters and encryption methods (such as steganography or crypto-
graphy) to cause havoc. The methods are both challenging and
complex (Ackerman, 2007) Therefore, it is argued, the police
need more time for gathering crucial evidence that can lead to
prosecutions. In view of this, the government’s maximum time
limit for detention of a suspected terrorist is 14 days, although it
used to be 28 days under the Terrorism Act 2006 (c. 11). But has
the government got the balance between civil liberties and
protecting national security right? In this article we consider how
272 The Police Journal, Volume 84 (2011)
DOI: 10.1358/pojo.2011.84.3.535
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