Abuse of the Terrorism Act 2000: five-figure settlement of civil claim against Metropolitan Police

On 17 April 2023 Ernest Moret, rights manager for French publishing house La Fabrique éditions, arrived in London by Eurostar to attend the London Bookfair at Olympia where he had over 30 appointments arranged with authors and publishers.

On arrival at St Pancras Station, Mr. Moret was stopped and examined by counter-terrorist police officers purportedly acting under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, an exceptional counter-terrorism power that enables police at ports to examine individuals entering or leaving the UK, to determine whether they are terrorists, and without any grounds for suspicion. Officers can detain for up to a maximum of 6 hours, search, seize devices, require cooperation (including passwords to devices), and take biometrics.

A person who is examined must give any information in his possession that the examining officer requests. It is an offense, punishable by up to 3 months imprisonment or a fine, to fail to comply with this duty. However, a person may only be convicted where the exercise of the Schedule 7 power was lawful.

Officers asked Mr Moret about demonstrations he had attended in France, and what he had been told by his solicitor. Having seized his iPhone and MacBook, officers told him that they intended to look at his photographs and media and required him to provide his PINs to both devices. Mr Moret refused. He was arrested on suspicion of wilfully obstructing a Schedule 7 examination. In the interview, an officer asserted without any basis that Mr Moret if convicted for his refusal to disclose his PINs would never again be able to travel abroad.

After a total of around 24 hours of detention, Mr Moret was released. His solicitor Richard Parry made representations directly to the CPS, who ordered the police to stop investigating Mr Moret and declined to prosecute.

The Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, subsequently concluded that ‘this examination should not have happened, and that additional safeguards are needed to ensure it is not repeated’. ‘This was an investigation into public order for which counter-terrorism powers were never intended to be used. The rights of free expression and protest are too important in a democracy to allow individuals to be investigated for potential terrorism merely because they may have been involved in protests that have turned violent’. The Independent Reviewer found that police assertions in the interview as to the consequences of criminal conviction had been ‘exaggerated and overbearing’.

Mr Moret intimated a claim against the Metropolitan Police for compensation for misfeasance in public office and false imprisonment. He has agreed to settle the proposed claim for a substantial five-figure sum negotiated by Richard Parry of Saunders Solicitors and Nick Stanage, working with Caroline Kamal of the Paris Bar.

[RT]

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Al Jazeera English Senior Correspondent Imran Khan filed his final report from occupied Jerusalem, anticipating the Israeli government's move to shut down Al Jazeera in Israel due to its reporting on the Israeli conflict in Gaza.

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AJ: Qatar committed to its role as mediator, won’t cave in to pressure: Diplomatic sources
Diplomatic sources have told Al Jazeera Arabic that Qatar will not accept any pressure from outside parties and is committed to its role as a mediator between Hamas and Israel.

The sources said Qatar has stated it does not impose itself on either side in the conflict and cannot undertake any mediation unless the parties involved request it to do so.

They added that Qatar, in its mediation between Hamas and Israel, had been subjected to pressures that threatened to disrupt its work as an “honest and reliable” mediator in a way it had not previously experienced.

[RT]