Terrorism Act 2006 offences- offences concerning the glorification/encouragement of terrorist acts Flashcards
Q: What is the offence concerning the publication of a statement encouraging terrorist activities?
S1 2006 Act- contains an offence concerning the publication of a statement to encourage the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism or offences under the convention of prevention of terrorism. These relate to explosives, biological, chemical or nuclear weapons or materials, hostage taking etc…
What are the specifics of the offence?
S1(2) A person commits an offence if-
(a) he publishes a statement to which this section applies or causes another to publish such a statement; and
(b) at the time he publishes it or causes it to be published, he—
(i) intends members of the public to be directly or indirectly encouraged or otherwise induced by the statement to commit, prepare or instigate acts of terrorism or Convention offences; or
(ii) is reckless as to whether members of the public will be directly or indirectly encouraged or otherwise induced by the statement to commit, prepare or instigate such acts or offences.
Q: What must be contained within the statement for an offence to be committed?
S1(3) For the purposes of this section, the statements that are likely to be understood by a reasonable person as indirectly encouraging the commission or preparation of acts of terrorism or Convention offences include every statement which—
(a) glorifies the commission or preparation (whether in the past, in the future or generally) of such acts or offences; and
(b) is a statement from which members of the public could reasonably be expected to infer that what is being glorified is being glorified as conduct that should be emulated by them in existing circumstances.
Q: What aspects of the statement must be considered to decide if an offence has been committed?
S1(4) For the purposes of this section the questions how a statement is likely to be understood and what members of the public could reasonably be expected to infer from it must be determined having regard both—
(a) to the contents of the statement as a whole; and
(b) to the circumstances and manner of its publication.
Q: What is the offence of dissemination of terrorist publications?
S2 2006 Act- contains a similar offence relating to the sale, distribution, possession with intent to distribute and other dissemination of books and other forms of publication that encourage people to engage in terrorism or provide info that could be useful to terrorists.
Q: What is it necessary to prove for both offences?
It is necessary to prove that:
1. The statement or publication glorifies the act of terrorism; and
2. That a reasonable person would understand the statement as an encouragement or an inducement to them to commit, prepare or instigate an act of terrorism.
Q: What does ‘statement’ include?
Statement includes any form of description, including words, pictures, or sounds.
Q: What does ‘publication’ include?
Publication can be by any method, including electronically.
Q: What does ‘glorification’ mean?
It includes any form of praise or celebration.
Eg: videos being uploaded to the internet showing attacks on western coalition forces in Iraq- these come within the definition.
Training videos on a pen drive that demonstrate methods to attack air line staff from the rear of the plane using a plastic knife.
Q: What is the MR for the s1 and s2 offences?
Offender must intend or be reckless that his conduct will encourage acts of terrorism.
Eg: if someone is ‘showing off’ their beliefs of terrorism rather than encouraging he will not be guilty of this type of offence.
It would be different if material was shared to someone whose views on such activities were not already known.
Q: Are there any defences to s1 and s2 offences?
It will be a defence to both offences for a person to prove that the material neither expressed his views nor had his endorsement.
Eg: an author of a scholarly article on terrorism shares materials with students as part of a discussion on the topic.
Q: Are there any offences relating to internet activities? What can a constable do?
S3 2006 Act- applies the offences in s1 and s2 to internet activity and provides that a constable may serve a notice on a person electronically publishing the statement, declaring that it is in the constables opinion unlawfully terrorist related and requiring removal or modification.
Q: What if the publisher fails to comply?
Such a notice gives the publisher 2 working days to remove the statement from public view. Failure to comply will be deemed an endorsement of the statement and will consequently render the publisher liable to s1 and s2 offences
Q: What is the sentence for both the s1 and s2 offences?
S1 and s2 both carry maximum sentences of 15 years when tried on indictment.
