Blog
Judges and civil liberties
13th January 2010
The question asking about the extent to which judges protect civil liberties resurfaced this week as the European Court in Strasbourg (which is, of course, a non EU body) when judges ruled that the government’s s44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 was illegal.
“Police powers to use terror laws to stop and search people without grounds for suspicion are illegal, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.
The Strasbourg court has been hearing a case involving two people stopped near an arms fair in London in 2003.
It said that Kevin Gillan and Pennie Quinton’s right to respect for a private and family life was violated.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson said he was disappointed with the ruling and would appeal against it.
Chief Constable Craig Mackey of the Association of Chief Police Officers said officers would continue to use stop and search powers while the appeal was pending.
‘Discriminatory use’
Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 allows the home secretary to authorise police to make random searches in certain circumstances.
But the European Court of Human Rights said the pair’s rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights had been violated.
The court said the stop and search powers were “not sufficiently circumscribed” and there were not “adequate legal safeguards against abuse”.
It also concluded that “the risks of the discriminatory use of the powers” were “a very real consideration”.
The pair were awarded 33,850 euros (£30,400) to cover legal costs.”