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• Law Briefing: Schedule 7 to the Terrorism Act 2000. Stopwatch, 17 June 2013, pp. 5.

Law Briefing: Schedule 7 to the Terrorism Act 2000. Stopwatch, 17 June 2013, pp. 5.

01 February 2014

This briefing outlines the coalition government’s proposed changes to the draconian Schedule 7 to the Terrorism Act 2000, the widest ranging and most intrusive stop power in the UK which operates outside of the regulations that cover other police powers of stop and search. Under the current Schedule 7 powers available to officers at ports, although stopped individuals are not under arrest they may be examined for up to nine hours and questioned, searched, strip-searched and have samples of their biometric data, including DNA and fingerprints, taken from them regardless of the outcome of the encounter and in the absence of a lawyer. In 2011-2012, 63,902 stops were carried out under Schedule 7, and while no information is available on the number of people convicted, there was a total of ten terrorism-related convictions from 2009-2012. The majority of those subject to Schedule 7 stops were from Black and ethnic minority groups (56%) even though they account for only approximately 14% of the national population. People from a Muslim background are particularly affected by its use, with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) commenting on its “negative impact.” The EHRC argues that for “some Muslims, these stops have become a routine part of their travel experience” and warns that “this power is silently eroding Muslim communities’ trust and confidence in policing.” David Anderson QC, the UK’s terrorism watchdog, said that: “I have not been able to identify from the police any case of a Schedule 7 examination leading directly to arrest followed by conviction in which the initial stop was not prompted by intelligence of some kind.” Proposed changes to the power under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Police Bill are then outlined and while StopWatch welcomes them, it argues that they should “…go much further towards ensuring that this power will be used proportionately, fairly and with greater transparency.”

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