|
| |
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
make provision for and about offences relating to conduct carried out, or |
| |
capable of being carried out, for purposes connected with terrorism; to amend |
| |
enactments relating to terrorism; to amend the Intelligence Services Act 1994 |
| |
and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000; and for connected |
| |
| |
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and |
| |
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present |
| |
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:— |
| |
| |
| |
Encouragement etc. of terrorism |
| |
1 | Encouragement of terrorism |
| |
(1) | This section applies to a statement that is likely to be understood by some or all |
| 5 |
of the members of the public to whom it is published as a direct or indirect |
| |
encouragement or other inducement to them to the commission, preparation or |
| |
instigation of acts of terrorism or Convention offences. |
| |
(2) | A person commits an offence if— |
| |
(a) | he publishes a statement to which this section applies or causes another |
| 10 |
to publish such a statement; and |
| |
(b) | at the time he publishes it or causes it to be published, he— |
| |
(i) | intends members of the public to be directly or indirectly |
| |
encouraged or otherwise induced by the statement to commit, |
| |
prepare or instigate acts of terrorism or Convention offences; or |
| 15 |
|
| |
| |
|
| |
|
(ii) | is reckless as to whether members of the public will be directly |
| |
or indirectly encouraged or otherwise induced by the statement |
| |
to commit, prepare or instigate such acts or offences. |
| |
(3) | For the purposes of this section, “indirect encouragement” comprises the |
| |
making of a statement describing terrorism in such a way that the listener |
| 5 |
would infer that he should emulate it. |
| |
(4) | For the purposes of this section the questions how a statement is likely to be |
| |
understood and what members of the public could reasonably be expected to |
| |
infer from it must be determined having regard both— |
| |
(a) | to the contents of the statement as a whole; and |
| 10 |
(b) | to the circumstances and manner of its publication. |
| |
(5) | It is irrelevant for the purposes of subsections (1) to (3)— |
| |
(a) | whether anything mentioned in those subsections relates to the |
| |
commission, preparation or instigation of one or more particular acts of |
| |
terrorism or Convention offences, of acts of terrorism or Convention |
| 15 |
offences of a particular description or of acts of terrorism or Convention |
| |
| |
(b) | whether any person is in fact encouraged or induced by the statement |
| |
to commit, prepare or instigate any such act or offence. |
| |
(6) | In proceedings for an offence under this section against a person in whose case |
| 20 |
it is not proved that he intended the statement directly or indirectly to |
| |
encourage or otherwise induce the commission, preparation or instigation of |
| |
acts of terrorism or Convention offences, it is a defence for him to show— |
| |
(a) | that the statement neither expressed his views nor had his endorsement |
| |
(whether by virtue of section 3 or otherwise); and |
| 25 |
(b) | that it was clear, in all the circumstances of the statement’s publication, |
| |
that it did not express his views and (apart from the possibility of his |
| |
having been given and failed to comply with a notice under subsection |
| |
(3) of that section) did not have his endorsement. |
| |
(7) | A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable— |
| 30 |
(a) | on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding |
| |
7 years or to a fine, or to both; |
| |
(b) | on summary conviction in England and Wales, to imprisonment for a |
| |
term not exceeding 12 months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory |
| |
| 35 |
(c) | on summary conviction in Scotland or Northern Ireland, to |
| |
imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to a fine not |
| |
exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both. |
| |
(8) | In relation to an offence committed before the commencement of section 154(1) |
| |
of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44), the reference in subsection (7)(b) to 12 |
| 40 |
months is to be read as a reference to 6 months. |
| |
2 | Dissemination of terrorist publications |
| |
(1) | A person commits an offence under this section if he disseminates a terrorist |
| |
| |
(a) | he does so with the intention of directly or indirectly encouraging or |
| 45 |
inducing the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
terrorism, or of providing information with a view to its use in the |
| |
commission or preparation of such acts; or |
| |
(b) | he is reckless as to whether the dissemination of that publication will |
| |
| |
(2) | A person disseminates a terrorist publication if he— |
| 5 |
(a) | distributes or circulates a terrorist publication; |
| |
(b) | gives, sells or lends such a publication; |
| |
(c) | offers such a publication for sale or loan; |
| |
(d) | provides a service to others that enables them to obtain, read, listen to |
| |
or look at such a publication, or to acquire it by means of a gift, sale or |
| 10 |
| |
(e) | transmits the contents of such a publication electronically; or |
| |
(f) | has such a publication in his possession with a view to its becoming the |
| |
subject of conduct falling within any of paragraphs (a) to (e). |
| |
(3) | For the purposes of this section a publication is a terrorist publication, in |
| 15 |
relation to conduct falling within subsection (2), if matter contained in it is |
| |
| |
(a) | to be understood, by some or all of the persons to whom it is or may |
| |
become available as a consequence of that conduct, as a direct or |
| |
indirect encouragement or other inducement to them to the |
| 20 |
commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism; or |
| |
(b) | to be useful in the commission or preparation of such acts and to be |
| |
understood, by some or all of those persons, as contained in the |
| |
publication, or made available to them, wholly or mainly for the |
| |
purpose of being so useful to them. |
| 25 |
(4) | For the purposes of this section the question whether a publication is a terrorist |
| |
publication in relation to particular conduct must be determined— |
| |
(a) | as at the time of that conduct; and |
| |
(b) | having regard both to the contents of the publication as a whole and to |
| |
the circumstances in which that conduct occurs. |
| 30 |
(5) | It is irrelevant for the purposes of this section whether anything mentioned in |
| |
subsections (1) to (3) is in relation to the commission, preparation or instigation |
| |
of one or more particular acts of terrorism, of acts of terrorism of a particular |
| |
description or of acts of terrorism generally. |
| |
(6) | For the purposes of this section it is also irrelevant, in relation to matter |
| 35 |
contained in any article whether any person— |
| |
(a) | is in fact encouraged or induced by that matter to commit, prepare or |
| |
instigate acts of terrorism; or |
| |
(b) | in fact makes use of it in the commission or preparation of such acts. |
| |
(7) | In proceedings for an offence under this section against a person in respect of |
| 40 |
conduct to which subsection (8) applies, it is a defence for him to show— |
| |
(a) | that the matter by reference to which the publication in question was a |
| |
terrorist publication neither expressed his views nor had his |
| |
endorsement (whether by virtue of section 3 or otherwise); and |
| |
(b) | that it was clear, in all the circumstances of the conduct, that that matter |
| 45 |
did not express his views and (apart from the possibility of his having |
| |
been given and failed to comply with a notice under subsection (3) of |
| |
that section) did not have his endorsement. |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
(8) | This subsection applies to the conduct of a person to the extent that— |
| |
(a) | the publication to which his conduct related contained matter by |
| |
reference to which it was a terrorist publication by virtue of subsection |
| |
| |
(b) | that person is not proved to have engaged in that conduct with the |
| 5 |
intention of making that matter available as mentioned in subsection |
| |
| |
(9) | A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable— |
| |
(a) | on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding |
| |
7 years or to a fine, or to both; |
| 10 |
(b) | on summary conviction in England and Wales, to imprisonment for a |
| |
term not exceeding 12 months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory |
| |
| |
(c) | on summary conviction in Scotland or Northern Ireland, to |
| |
imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to a fine not |
| 15 |
exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both. |
| |
(10) | In relation to an offence committed before the commencement of section 154(1) |
| |
of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44), the reference in subsection (9)(b) to 12 |
| |
months is to be read as a reference to 6 months. |
| |
| 20 |
“lend” includes let on hire, and “loan” is to be construed accordingly; |
| |
“publication” means an article or record of any description that contains |
| |
any of the following, or any combination of them— |
| |
| |
(b) | matter to be listened to; |
| 25 |
(c) | matter to be looked at or watched. |
| |
3 | Application of ss. 1 and 2 to internet activity etc. |
| |
(1) | This section applies for the purposes of sections 1 and 2 in relation to cases |
| |
| |
(a) | a statement is published or caused to be published in the course of, or |
| 30 |
in connection with, the provision or use of a service provided |
| |
| |
(b) | conduct falling within section 2(2) was in the course of, or in connection |
| |
with, the provision or use of such a service. |
| |
(2) | The cases in which the statement, or the article or record to which the conduct |
| 35 |
relates, is to be regarded as having the endorsement of a person (“the relevant |
| |
person”) at any time include a case in which— |
| |
(a) | a constable has given him a notice under subsection (3); |
| |
(b) | that time falls more than 2 working days after the day on which the |
| |
| 40 |
(c) | the relevant person has failed, without reasonable excuse, to comply |
| |
| |
(3) | A notice under this subsection is a notice which— |
| |
(a) | declares that, in the opinion of the constable giving it, the statement or |
| |
the article or record is unlawfully terrorism-related; |
| 45 |
|
| |
|
| |
|
(b) | requires the relevant person to secure that the statement or the article |
| |
or record, so far as it is so related, is not available to the public or is |
| |
modified so as no longer to be so related; |
| |
(c) | warns the relevant person that a failure to comply with the notice |
| |
within 2 working days will result in the statement, or the article or |
| 5 |
record, being regarded as having his endorsement; and |
| |
(d) | explains how, under subsection (4), he may become liable by virtue of |
| |
the notice if the statement, or the article or record, becomes available to |
| |
the public after he has complied with the notice. |
| |
| 10 |
(a) | a notice under subsection (3) has been given to the relevant person in |
| |
respect of a statement, or an article or record, and he has complied with |
| |
| |
(b) | he subsequently publishes or causes to be published a statement which |
| |
is, or is for all practical purposes, the same or to the same effect as the |
| 15 |
statement to which the notice related, or to matter contained in the |
| |
article or record to which it related, (a “repeat statement”); |
| |
| the requirements of subsection (2)(a) to (c) shall be regarded as satisfied in the |
| |
case of the repeat statement in relation to the times of its subsequent |
| |
publication by the relevant person. |
| 20 |
(5) | In proceedings against a person for an offence under section 1 or 2 the |
| |
requirements of subsection (2)(a) to (c) are not, in his case, to be regarded as |
| |
satisfied in relation to any time by virtue of subsection (4) if he shows that he— |
| |
(a) | has, before that time, taken every step he reasonably could to prevent a |
| |
repeat statement from becoming available to the public and to ascertain |
| 25 |
| |
(b) | was, at that time, a person to whom subsection (6) applied. |
| |
(6) | This subsection applies to a person at any time when he— |
| |
(a) | is not aware of the publication of the repeat statement; or |
| |
(b) | having become aware of its publication, has taken every step that he |
| 30 |
reasonably could to secure that it either ceased to be available to the |
| |
public or was modified as mentioned in subsection (3)(b). |
| |
(7) | For the purposes of this section a statement or an article or record is unlawfully |
| |
terrorism-related if it constitutes, or if matter contained in the article or record |
| |
| 35 |
(a) | something that is capable of being understood as a direct or indirect |
| |
encouragement or other inducement to the commission, preparation or |
| |
instigation of acts of terrorism or Convention offences; or |
| |
| |
(i) | is capable of being useful in the commission or preparation of |
| 40 |
| |
(ii) | is in a form or context in which it is capable of being understood |
| |
as being wholly or mainly for the purpose of being so useful. |
| |
(8) | In this section “working day” means any day other than— |
| |
(a) | a Saturday or a Sunday; |
| 45 |
(b) | Christmas Day or Good Friday; or |
| |
(c) | a day which is a bank holiday under the Banking and Financial |
| |
Dealings Act 1971 (c. 80) in any part of the United Kingdom. |
| |
|
| |
|