The legislative response to terrorism: adequacy, gaps, what’s unnecessary or counterproductive
The current legislative response to terrorism – which supplements the provisions of the general criminal law, and rightly makes no distinction between jihadist and other forms of terrorism – is in most respects satisfactory. Strong by the standards of other western democracies, UK law is generally rights-compliant, and well-calibrated both to current threat levels and to community sensitivities. But this position was reached only after past errors, both in 20th century Northern Ireland and in the period since 9/11, and change will continue to be required as the nature of the threat develops. Areas for possible Phase 2 CoJiT-UK research include the more effective criminalisation of hate preachers and foreign fighters, police powers and (preferably with access to classified materials) the operation of executive orders and of powers relating to immigration and nationality.