Section 44 Terrorism Act 2002 UK; Illegal!

Burnt

"Stop and Search" Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2002;
familiar to virtually any photographer operating in London,
has been ruled illegal by the European Court of Human Rights
in Strasbourg.

The law hasn't been struck down yet and is still in operation
pending an appeal the home office intend to launch against
the ruling, but it's a good start.

Full Story:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8453878.stm

John

Saw that earlier. Good news if it sticks.

Chorcai

Whats the big deal ? They were stopped for 20mins while attending an arms fair/protest. What did they expect ? Maybe the 20mins was a bit much.

Burnt

Chorcai wrote: »

Whats the big deal ? They were stopped for 20mins while attending an arms fair/protest. What did they expect ? Maybe the 20mins was a bit much.

I didn't post, about the protesters per se more in reference to the
piece of legislation.

Section 44 has been quite widely used and abused as catch all
that has left many feeling like they are been unfairly targeted
or harassed. Things a have eased of substantially in the passed
6 months or so and the majority of officers are quite professional
and pleasant about the whole thing. But in the beginning it was
being dished out quite liberally against photographers even a
sketch artist particularly in London.

I sure we have a few people with a collection of the pink receipt
dockets that you are given afterwards.

If your unaware of how the environment for photographers is was
there are multiply thread here on flickr etc... documenting it

John

I love that poster. "Experienced officers" i.e. guys who were hired a couple of months earlier as police community support officers.

Also, I remember an article online, not sure where but they pointed out that terrorists taking photos of areas prior to an attack only happens in the movies, when arrested terrorists rarely have any photographic equipment let alone a file compiled on what they're going to target.

Rael

Burnt wrote: »

"Stop and Search" Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2002;
familiar to virtually any photographer operating in London,
has been ruled illegal by the European Court of Human Rights
in Strasbourg.

The law hasn't been struck down yet and is still in operation
pending an appeal the home office intend to launch against
the ruling, but it's a good start.

Full Story:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8453878.stm

At the risk of sounding pedantic, the ECtHR can't declare a piece of legislation to be illegal and like here, the law won't have to be struck down. Striking down a piece of legislation is not the responsibility or remit of the ECtHR, in fact it has no powers to that effect.

The UK may appeal a decision of the Court (which isn't necessarily binding) and if that appeal is refused then the UK would have to make a Declaration of Incompatibility under the Human Rights Act 1998. This could mean modifying the act, repealing it or maybe changing an administrative proceedure.

The ECtHR's decision is a positive one for photographers but people shouldn't get their hopes up yet.