Rights in Focus - From Counter-Terrorism Law to the Criminalisation of Relationships (by Sultana Tafadar KC)
Overview
This guest article examines how Sections 12 and 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 have been applied beyond their original purpose of preventing violence, focusing on their impact on protest movements and political expression. Drawing on legal analysis, the author argues that these provisions increasingly criminalise support, symbolism and association without requiring intent or harm, shifting the law from regulating conduct to policing identity and belief, with wider consequences for democratic participation and public debate.
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Government policies like the "Prevent" duty and use of "crime predicting" technology by police target racialised people and erode their human rights. The power to change this is in our hands.