Correspondence

Circular 001/2016: schedule 7 to the Terrorism Act 2000

Published 15 March 2016

This circular is to provide guidance to examining officers on how to make selections for screening and/or examination under schedule 7 to the Terrorism Act 2000 (schedule 7), in light of comments made by some members of the Supreme Court in the case of Beghal v the Director of Public Prosecutions.

1. Introduction

In the Beghal judgment, the Supreme Court ruled that the power to examine people under schedule 7 is capable of being exercised compatibly with articles 5, 6 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. However, the Supreme Court has suggested that the wording of the schedule 7 code of practice concerning the need to refrain from using schedule 7 in a discriminatory manner is ‘potentially confusing’. A revised code will undergo public consultation at a later date, and will be published subject to Parliamentary approval.

2. Guidance

Until the revised code of practice is published, the following guidance is provided for examining officers who exercise schedule 7 powers.

The following sections of the March 2015 version of the schedule 7 code of practice should be disregarded when examining officers are making a decision to screen or interview an individual:

• paragraph 18 extract - ‘Examining officers must take particular care to ensure that the selection of persons for examination is not solely based on their background or religion.’
• paragraph 19 extract - ‘A person’s ethnic background or religion must not be used alone or in combination with each other as the sole reason for selecting the person for examination.’

Until the revised schedule 7 code of practice is published, paragraph 19 of the current code should be read as follows:

Selection Criteria

1. Although the selection of a person for examination is not conditional upon the examining officer having grounds to suspect that person of being concerned in terrorism, the decision to select a person for examination must not be arbitrary. An examining officer’s decision to select a person for examination must be informed by the threat from terrorism to the United Kingdom and its interests posed by the various terrorist groups, networks and individuals active in, and outside the United Kingdom.

Considerations that relate to the threat of terrorism, include factors such as, but not exclusively:

• known and suspected sources of terrorism
• individuals or groups whose current or past involvement in acts or threats of terrorism is known or suspected, and supporters or sponsors of such activity who are known or suspected
• any information on the origins and/or location of terrorist groups
• possible current, emerging and future terrorist activity
• the means of travel (and documentation) that a group or individuals involved in terrorist activity could use
• emerging local trends or patterns of travel through specific ports or in the wider vicinity that may be linked to terrorist activity
• observation of an individual’s behaviour

It is only appropriate for race, ethnic background, religion and/or other “protected characteristics”^{[footnote 1]} (whether separately or together) to be used as criteria for selection if present in association with factors which show a connection with the threat from terrorism.

1. Protected characteristics as defined in the Equalities Act 2010 and set out in paragraph 4 of the code of practice. ↩