Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005

Summary

The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 created 'control orders' — a regime of executive restrictions imposed on individuals suspected of involvement in terrorism-related activity who could not be prosecuted or, for foreign nationals, deported. It was passed rapidly after the House of Lords held the previous regime of indefinite detention of foreign terror suspects unlawful in A v Secretary of State (the Belmarsh case). A control order could impose obligations such as curfews, electronic tagging, and restrictions on movement, association, and communication. 'Non-derogating' orders were made by the Home Secretary subject to court supervision (ss.1-3); the more intrusive 'derogating' orders required a court and a derogation from the ECHR (s.4). The regime was heavily litigated — notably Secretary of State v AF (No 3), which required that a controlee be told enough of the case against them to give effective instructions. The Act was repealed and control orders replaced by Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIMs) under the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011.

Key Points

• Control orders imposed obligations on suspects — curfew, electronic tagging, reporting requirements, and restrictions on association and communication
• Non-derogating control orders (Home Secretary, court-supervised) and derogating control orders (court, requiring an ECHR derogation)
• Heavily litigated — Secretary of State v AF (No 3) required disclosure of sufficient case to give effective instructions
• Repealed and replaced by TPIMs under the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011

Parts & Sections

Amendments History