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No reasonable suspicion should mean no stop and search

In July, the Home Secretary – responding to a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights – put an order before parliament to give the police the power to use stop-and-search powers without reasonable suspicion in anti-terror situations.

Tomorrow the House of Lords will debate whether or not to renew the order and prior to the debate; the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) has renewed its call for this order not to be renewed.

Big Brother Watch fully supports the call for this order not to be renewed. It is essential any stop and search is based upon reasonable suspicion, and Parliament should recognise that it is a core part of a democracy for actions of the state to be proportionate and necessary.

Terrorism Legislation should not be a catch-all for lazy policing, and it is a serious concern that there are not adequate safeguards in place to protect the civil liberties of innocent members of the public.

The independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, David Anderson, has warned safeguards put in place are insufficient and the ongoing experience of photographers is just one example of the police’s inability to prevent misuse.

The Home Secretary’s order has no place on the British statute book and Parliament should not allow it to remain there as it currently stands.

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Nick Pickles Posted in Legal Action, Terrorism Legislation
  • Jolly_steve

    Watch this West Midlands Police constable and PCSO stopping and searching a youth on the street without ‘reasonable grounds’ for suspicion. The young man knows his rights and questions the constable’s authority, challenging his unlawful conduct. He gets arrested anyway: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_yWs-EnDxo&feature=player_embedded

  • David

    There is no credible argument for stop and search without reasonable suspicion (terrorism is an emotive red herring). If you have no safeguard then there is nothing stopping authority from continually stopping, searching and generally wasting time and resources that could be better deployed elsewhere. The whole point of the safeguard of reasonable suspicion is to strike a balance between necessary policing and peoples right to live a life free of unreasonable interference by the state.

    As I have been subject to this so-called anti-terrorism stop and search at train stations in the past I can relay that they leave you feeling humiliated and powerless, the only response I could solicit from the officer regarding the reasonable suspicion point was that a ‘terrorist may be behaving reasonably’ (ie the anyone could be a terrorist therefore we have the right to stop and search argument), to which I reply that innocent people also behave reasonably. Out of the hundreds of thousands of people stopped under these powers no terrorists were found (how would you even judge a success in this situation ?!). That’s the point. The logic is messed up and leads you down the slippery slope where any action is justified as long as it can be tied to an emotive issue. Get rid of this power.

  • John Name

    They’re not going to search me because I won’t have it.

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