Long title | An Act to provide for the making against individuals involved in terrorism-related activity of orders imposing obligations on them for purposes connected with preventing or restricting their further involvement in such activity; to make provision about appeals and other proceedings relating to such orders; and for connected purposes. |
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Citation | 2005 c 2 |
Territorial extent | United Kingdom |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 11 March 2005 |
Commencement | 11 March 2005, except section 16(2) which came into force on 14 March 2005 |
Repealed | 14 December 2011 |
Other legislation | |
Repealed by | Section 1 of the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011 |
Status: Repealed
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Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Revised text of statute as amended |
The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 (c 2) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, intended to deal with the Law Lords' ruling of 16 December 2004 that the detention without trial of eight foreigners (known as the 'Belmarsh 8') at HM Prison Belmarsh under Part 4 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 was unlawful, being incompatible with European (and, thus, domestic) human rights laws.
The Act allowed the Home Secretary to impose "control orders" on people who were suspected of involvement in terrorism, which in some cases may have derogated (opted out) from human rights laws. As yet, no derogating control orders have been obtained under s.4 of the relevant Act.
In April 2006, a High Court judge issued a declaration that section 3 of the Act was incompatible with the right to a fair trial under article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The system of control orders was described by Mr Justice Sullivan as an 'affront to justice'. The Act was repealed on 14 December 2011 by section 1 of the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011.
Despite having passed permanent counter-terrorism legislation only a year earlier, in the shape of the Terrorism Act 2000, the British government's response to the September 11, 2001 attacks was to rush through emergency legislation to increase powers to deal with individuals suspected of planning or assisting terrorist attacks within the UK.