Human Rights and Democracy - Official Documents

x end the indiscriminate use of terrorism stop and search powers and replace
them with a severely circumscribed version that can only be used where there
is a real assessment that an attack is expected;
x extend the use of deportation of foreign nationals engaged in terrorism (also
known as the Deportation with Assurances – or DWA – programme). The
Government will seek to conclude deportation arrangements with a wider
range of countries, in a manner consistent with our legal and human rights
obligations;
x ensure that local councils will only be able to use covert investigatory
techniques under the terms of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act
(RIPA) 2000 when these have been approved by a magistrate; and
x make maximum use of existing measures to tackle groups which espouse and
incite violence or hatred, but not widen the definition of terrorism or lower the
threshold for proscribing these groups.
Led by the Home Office, the review was conducted as openly and transparently as
possible. The police, the security and intelligence agencies, the Crown Prosecution
Service and other government departments including those in Scotland and Northern
Ireland, as well as key organisations and individuals across the UK all contributed to
the review, including Liberty and other civil liberty organisations and community
groups. Members of the public and interested organisations were also invited to
contribute.
A number of the measures will require changes to legislation, and the Government
intends to implement these at the earliest opportunity. This will ensure that the
police and the security and intelligence agencies can continue their vital work with
certainty and confidence about the powers that they have available. In the case of
control orders, the Government will extend the current regime until the end of 2011
to allow time for new legislation to be brought forward and for the additional
investigative capabilities for the police and Security Service to be put in place. The
changes to terrorism stop-and-search powers (known as Section 44 powers, arising
from the Terrorism Act 2000), local authority use of RIPA powers, and the permanent
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