New legislation to give the courts, police and security services greater powers to protect the public against terrorism has come into force after receiving Royal Assent.
The new Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Act (2021) is considered the biggest shake-up of terrorist sentencing and monitoring in decades.
Under the new legislation, the prospect of early release for anyone convicted of a serious terror offence has been removed completely, forcing those convicted to spend their whole term in jail.
The most dangerous offenders, such as those found guilty of preparing or carrying out acts of terrorism where lives were placed at risk will now face a minimum of 14 years in prison alongside up to 25 years on supervised licence.
The Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Act builds on emergency legislation passed in February 2020 following the terrorist attack at Fishmongers’ Hall and in Streatham, which effectively ended automatic early release for terrorists serving standard determinate sentences.
This forced prisoners to spend a minimum of two-thirds of their term behind bars before being considered for release by the Parole Board.
The new laws expand on this and allow courts to now consider whether a wide range of other offences have a terror connection and hand down tougher punishments.
Better tools will be available to counter-terrorism police and the security services to manage the risk posed by terrorist offenders and individuals of concern outside of custody. This includes stronger Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures and making it easier for the police to apply for a Serious Crime Prevention Order in terrorism cases.
It will also widen the list of those offences that can be classed as terror-connected and thus trigger Registered Terrorist Offender notification requirements, which means more offenders will now be required to provide the police with regular updates on changes to their circumstances, such as a new address or when they plan to travel abroad.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “The Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill marks the largest overhaul of terrorist sentencing and monitoring in decades.
“This legislation will lengthen sentences for terrorists, improve monitoring of these dangerous offenders, and give the law enforcement agencies the powers to strengthen their ability to take action.
“Those who senselessly seek to damage and destroy lives need to know we will do everything possible to stop them.”
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