Essay Sample on Terrorism Laws and Counter-Terrorism Measures in the UK and Europe

Introduction

There exists a long history of terrorism in Europe. The vice has often been linked to nationalist and separatist movements while others have been associated with political extremism (including far-right and far-left extremism and anarchism) and religious extremism. Terrorism can simply be viewed as the application of force against innocent people for political purposes. Within the European communities, terrorism has often been linked to separatist movements that included the Irish Republican Army in the United Kingdom and the Euskadi Ta Asatasuna in Spain. Other perpetrators included the far-right and far-left extremism, anarchism and environmental extremism. The vice constitutes a real threat to democracy, enjoyment of human rights and the rule of law. Terrorism threatens human rights and democracy and undermines the rule of law that aims at destabilizing the legitimacy that is constituted by the government. It enhances social and political divisions and weakens the civil society through intimidation and increased polarization.

Examples of terrorist activities include serious violence against a person in a manner that endangers their lives or establishes a vital negative impact on public health and safety or destroys property. However, for one to be convicted of terrorism offence, he/she does not have to physically commit an act that can be considered as a terrorist attack. Any activity that involves the collection of information, planning or aiding actions of terrorism are all regarded as criminal offences under the British legislation on terrorism. This proposal analyses the prevalence of terrorism acts in the UK and Europe, the existing terrorism laws and counter-terrorism measures established to control the vice.

Research Questions

• How prevalent are terrorism acts in the UK and Europe (recent terrorist occurrences, problems associated with terrorism)?
• How effective are the existing terrorism laws in the region?
• What counter-terrorism measures have been established by the various international organizations within the region?
• Objectives of the Research
• To provide an analysis of the prevalence levels of terrorism in the UK and Europe.
• To analyse the existing terrorism laws established in the UK and Europe.
• To highlight the roles played by the Council of Europe, the European Union and the European Human Rights Commission in combating terrorism.

Literature Review

This section provides a literature review of the established terrorism laws and acts, the prevalence levels over time and the roles played by the council of Europe and the European Human Rights commission in combating the vice. The British parliament has over the years (from 2000-2015) passed a series of Terrorism Acts that were aimed at addressing terrorism in general. Their establishment was influenced by the September 11, 2001 attack that led to the death of approximately 2,996 people and over 6,000 injured people. Another incident was the 7th July London bombings which were a series of coordinated suicide attacks in London that targeted commuters travelling via the city's public transport systems during rush hours.

History of Terrorism in the UK and Europe

The first wave of terrorism began in the 1890s and proceeded up to 1940s. This period was highly regarded as the 'Golden Age of Assassinations.' The period was marked by the assassination of a head of state or a major European minister in every 18 months. This period was followed by the "anticolonial" wave of terrorism that began with the signing of the Versailles treaty that led to the end of the First World War. Application of the principle of self-determination led to the break-up of defeated empires and laid the foundation for aspirations of new terrorist organizations such as the Irish Republican Army and the various Jewish organizations that functioned against the British forces in Palestine.

The second wave of terrorism was accompanied by extensive support from the various diaspora abroad and therefore settled to assassinations. This strategy was cumbersome but powerful enough to result in grievances among the populations and redundancy in the steps taken by the local police force and the military forces. The 'new left' terrorism showed how the modern states were vulnerable to unsophisticated tactics and weapons and were highly influenced by the Vietnam War. More young people were deeply dissatisfied with the system in place and gave into terror organizations i.e. the Red Army Faction, French Action Directe, and the Italian Red Brigades.

This led to the third wave of terrorism that experienced more International Corporation in counterterrorism acts. It led to the adoption of major conventions by the UN that outlawed financing of terrorists, hijacking, and taking of hostages. The religious wave of terrorism is at the heart of Islam which has given prominence to suicide terrorism with an attempt to result in mass casualties. Critical views should, therefore, be taken into account when addressing the history of terrorism.

There are five major goals that are pursued by terrorist activities over time which include a change in regime, territorial adjustments, policy changes, maintenance of status quo and social control structures. The above objectives are pursued using the strategies of attrition, provocation, intimidation, outbidding and spoiling.

Prevalence of Terrorism in the UK and Europe

The onset of this millennium saw an increase in the political focus towards threats on international terrorism that were heightened by the attack on Twin Towers on 11th September 2001, one year before 9/11. This led to the establishment of the new counter-terrorism legislation (Terrorism Act 2000) that provided powers to the Home Secretary as well as the police to combat terrorism. It also moved the focus of counter-terrorist activities from Northern Ireland to all the other forms of domestic and international terrorism. Data on terrorism in Great Britain was obtained from the Home Office's quarterly statistical release.

The graph shows the number of terrorist attacks in the European Union (EU) in 2017 by a member state

From the graph, it is evident that the UK records the highest number of terrorist attacks in the European Union in 2017 compared to the other member states. However, the deaths associated with terrorism in the UK have been steadily decreasing over the years as shown in the diagram below.

From the graph, there were 3,262 victims of terrorism in the indicated time period with the majority of the deaths occurring between 1970 and 1990 in Northern Ireland. The two clear peaks represent 1972 where 344 people were killed in Northern Ireland and the Lockerbie bombing in 1988 where 27 people were killed in Scotland. Since then, there has been a decreasing general trend in the number of people killed due to terrorism.

Contemporary Terrorism Laws of the UK and Europe

There are various terrorism acts established by the UK and Europe with the aim of controlling the vice. These laws include the Terrorism Act 2000, the Anti-terrorism, Crime, and Security Act 2001, Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005, Terrorism Act 2006, Counter Terrorism Act 2008, Terrorist Asset Freezing Act 2010, Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011, Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015. These special laws against terrorism provide a constant feature of political and legal life within the United Kingdom. They establish a number of offences that relate to terrorism, including fundraising for the support and financing of terrorism activities, running of the terrorism training activities and encouraging terrorism.

Terrorism Act 2000

This is the first of a number of general Terrorism Acts passed by the UK parliament. The act provides the police with powers to arrest and detain a person without charge for up to 48 hours if they are suspected to be terrorists. The detention period can be extended to seven days if the police can persuade the judge that it is vital for further questioning. Moreover, section 47A of the Act, which replaced section 44 enables the police to make an authorization in relation to a specified area if he/she suspects future occurrence of an act of terrorism and considers the authorization as a vital step to prevent the act. When the authorization is inforce, the constable has the authority to stop and search any vehicle, passenger or pedestrian. The act also establishes the offence, liable to a prison term of up to ten years if found guilty of collecting or possessing information of any manner that is likely to be of importance to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

The Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001

This act analyses terrorist's property and applies to the finances of suspected terrorists and criminal organizations. Part 1 relates to the seizure of assets of suspected terrorists. Part 3 gives new powers to her Majesty's Revenue and Customs to require disclosure of information "for purposes of law enforcement". It provides requirements to disclose information for purposes of criminal investigations especially in relation to information held by public bodies. Part 4 allows for the Home Secretary to certify any non-British citizen that is suspected to be a terrorist and detain them indefinitely, pending deportation even when it's prohibited. Part 6-8 makes it illegal to deal in any biological, chemical weapons of nuclear explosions or to disclose information that my prejudice the security of any nuclear material. Part 9 allows the Secretary of State to make any new regulations and detention of aircraft where there is suspicion of an act of violence against anyone on the aircraft. Part 10 of the Act enables the police to forcefully obtain fingerprints and any other identification features from individuals to ascertain their identity. This enables them to apprehend offenders, seize or preserve evidence that relates to a crime and to act accordingly to prevent harm to the public.

Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005

This Act allowed the Home Secretary to impose "control orders" on any suspects of terrorism. The control orders contain restrictions that the court would consider necessary for the purposes of preventing or restricting the involvement of the individual in activities related to terrorism. These may include restrictions to possession of specified articles such as mobile phones, use of specified facilities such as the internet, restrictions on work and business arrangements, communications with other individuals and admissions to certain locations among others. Moreover, the suspect would be required to hand over their individual's passport, allow to be photographed and corporate with surveillance systems such as electronic tagging systems.

Terrorism Act of 2006

This Act makes provisions for and in reference to offences that relate to any conduct carried out or is capable of being carried out that relates to terrorism. Its provisions include: extension of police powers to hold terrorist suspects from 14 days to 28 days without any charges; taking it as a criminal offence to encourage terrorism directly or indirectly through incites; granting the Home Secretary powers to ban groups that glorify terrorism; establishment of new offences that relate to the sale, loan, transmission or distribution of any terrorist publications and prosecution of anyone who gives or receives training in terrorist techniques. It also sets up new procedures that prepare terrorist cases for trial.

Counter-Terrorism Act of 2008

The act provides further provisions on the detention and questioning of terrorist suspects. It ensures further provisions on the detention a...