Government Says No to Stop and Search

by Katy Murcutt - Paralegal

09 July 2010, filed under Consumer

Yesterday the Government announced it has decided to suspend stop and search powers under the anti-terrorism legislation after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled against the legislation.

Home Secretary Theresa May has said that she will draft new guidelines for police forces across the country to follow as stop and search powers will only be able to be used by police in specific circumstances.

In January this year, the ECHR held that Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which operates to permit the use of stop and search powers, was illegal.

The result of this ruling is that police officers will no longer be able to search at their discretion in reliance of Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 as these powers have been suspended. Section 44 will now only apply to the search of motor vehicles, rather than individuals.

The new guidelines currently being drawn up by the Home Secretary will be in operation until a more detailed analysis of the ECHRs ruling can be undertaken to establish a wider-ranging review of the UKs anti-terrorism legislation.

Civil liberties rights campaigners have welcomed the ECHRs decision. Liberty director, Shami Chakrabarti, said that they fully support the findings as the Section 44 legislation left many individuals feeling criminalised.

It has often been argued by campaigners that the legislation is disproportionate as it has been used as a blanket power to stop and search many groups, including peace protesters and journalists.

The ECHRs unanimous ruling by seven judges found that Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 breached Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, that is, the right to respect for a private and family life.

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