The man tasked with reviewing Britain’s terror laws has said the government should consider abolishing them as they are “unnecessary” in the fight against extremists.
Speaking to The Independent, Max Hill QC, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, argued potential jihadis can be stopped with existing “general” laws that are not always being used effectively to take threats off the streets.
Mr Hill said Britain “has the laws we need” to intervene, adding: “We should review them and ensure they ensure remain fit for purpose, but we should have faith in our legal structures, rather than trying to create some kind of new situation where the ordinary rules are thrown out.”
He said that Britain cannot “legislate its way out of” the threat from returning ISIS fighters and home-grown extremists. “We should not legislate in haste, we should not use the mantra of ‘something has to be done’ as an excuse for creating new laws,” he added. “We should make use of what we have.”
He also expressed concern over the threat to civil liberties posed by some proposed anti-terror measures, warning laws aimed at tackling hate preachers could easily veer into the territory of “thought crime”.
Having met with Muslim communities across England in the wake of the terror attacks in Westminster, Manchester, London Bridge and Finsbury Park earlier this year, he said there was confusion about the use of existing laws.
The vast majority of people interviewed by Mr Hill also expressed feelings of distrust and resentment towards the Government’s Prevent counter-extremism programme, as well as the use of specific terror charges for some extremist killings and murder for others.
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Mr Hill said the “game has been changing” rapidly in terrorism since ISIS declared its “caliphate” in 2014, prompting an exodus of hundreds of people from the UK, with just under half already having returned.
He said returned jihadis and their families represent a “heavy challenge” for British law enforcement that must be met with all available measures, including prosecution, temporary exclusion orders, port stops and the revocation of citizenship for dual nationals.
According to Home Office figures, at least 850 people travelled from the UK to Iraq and Syria and around half have returned and 15 per cent being killed, leaving an estimated 300 still alive.
“None of us know what number will return,” he added. “I think there can be little doubt that the fall of Mosul will prove to have cost British lives among citizens that were fighting there under ISIS, and as and when there’s a final outcome in Raqqa I expect the same would happen.”
Advocacy group CAGE welcomed Mr Hill’s comments. Dr Adnan Siddiqui, CAGE Director said: “Max Hill is right to call for the end to all terror laws in this country. The Independent Reviewers comments come as a welcome break from a norm that has allowed this politicised corpus of law to continue to expand. The criminal justice system is adequate without entrenching Emergency laws that were intended only to be a temporary measure. A ‘state of exception’ has instead led to the normalisation of emergency powers for over 17 years through 14 separate pieces of legislation.
“CAGE reiterates its June announcement: We call for an abolition of the extensive web of laws that have ensnared our fundamental freedoms and rights. We call upon all right minded people to join our struggle to establish once again the Rule of Law and apply it to all irrespective of their background, race or religion.”
