Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill given Royal Assent

13 Feb 2019 11:50 AM

The police will receive new powers to investigate hostile state activity as new the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act becomes law.

New laws which gives the give the UK greater powers to crackdown on hostile state activity, yesterday received Royal Assent.

The Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 also ensures sentencing for certain terrorism offences can properly reflect the severity of the crimes, as well as preventing re-offending and disrupting terrorist activity more rapidly.

In addition, the act updates existing counter-terrorism legislation to reflect the digital age including the way in which people view content online. It also reflects the speed at which terrorism plots develop.

Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, yesterday said:

Terrorists and hostile states pose a persistent threat to our national security, with the 2017 atrocities and Russia’s use of chemical weapons on our soil highlighting the dangers we face.

Keeping people safe is my number one job and this important piece of legislation will help do that.

The Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act gives the police the powers they need to disrupt plots and punish those who seek to do us harm.

The main provisions included in the act are:

In June 2017, the Prime Minister announced a review of the government’s approach to counter-terrorism to ensure that it was working as effectively as possible. It resulted in the government’s updated counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, which was published in June 2018. New legislation was central to the revised strategy.

The act was introduced as a Bill to the House of Commons on 6 June 2018 and was introduced to the House of Lords on 12 September 2018.

A provision amending the Reinsurance (Acts of Terrorism) Act 1993 came into force yesterday (Tuesday 12 February).

The additional provisions in the act will come into force in the coming months.