UK 'stop and search' law declared ILLEGAL by European court... but it stays



A police officer searches a teenage boy (Posed by models). A European court has declared Britain's 'stop and search' laws illegal

A 'Big Brother' stop and search power which has been used by police to harass hundreds of thousands of innocent people will remain in force despite being ruled illegal.

The news that police may continue to search members of the public without having any reasonable grounds for suspicion provoked fury among civil liberties campaigners.

The power - section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 - was ruled unlawful by the European Court of Human Rights on Wednesday.

The Home Office now has no remaining grounds for appeal. But, despite the crushing Strasbourg defeat, officials say they will not stop the police from using the power for months or even a year or more.

In the meantime, tourists, photographers and other members of the public will continue to be subjected to the humiliating searches - of which 256,000 were carried out last year, without catching a single terrorist.

Isabella Sankey, policy director for the campaign group Liberty, said: 'The objectionable policy of broad stop and search without suspicion was wrong in principle and divisive and counterproductive in practice.

'Now that the doomed appeal of the last government has finally been kicked into touch, the continued use of this power will only lead to confusion for police and the public alike.'

Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 allows the Home Secretary to authorise police to make random searches in areas judged at risk of terrorist attack.

In recent years its use has expanded, with 73,967 whites stopped last year as officers sought to avoid accusations of racial profiling.



Lord Carlile, the Government's reviewer of terror laws, said: 'I have evidence of cases where the person stopped is so obviously far from any known terrorism profile that, realistically, there is not the slightest possibility of him/her being a terrorist.'

Police insist the power is a useful weapon against terrorism.



But the European judges said it was a breach of the right to privacy, there were not 'adequate legal safeguards against abuse', and it might lead to discrimination against ethnic minorities.

In opposition, both the Lib Dems and Tories voiced grave doubts about the power.

But now they say they want to wait until a review of all Labour's draconian anti-terror laws has been completed before deciding what to do next.

Ministers are given a period of grace by the European court to implement its ruling which, based on previous examples, can last for up to a year, or even longer.



A Home Office spokesman said: 'The Government has already committed to reviewing counter-terrorism legislation, which will include the operation of the section 44 stop and search provisions.



'We are currently giving full consideration to the judgment and its implications.'

The two people who took the test case to Europe, Kevin Gillan and Pennie Quinton, were awarded £30,400 costs, but no damages.

They were detained in 2003 outside the Defence Systems and Equipment International exhibition at the Excel Centre in London Docklands, where there had already been protests and demonstrations.