NCJ Number
174891
Journal
Journal of Financial Crime Volume: 4 Issue: 3 Dated: January 1997 Pages: 247-250
Date Published
1997
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This review of Britain's Prevention of Terrorism (Additional Powers) Act 1996 focuses on those provisions that have the potential to negatively impact businesses, notably provisions that permit police cordons, the search of nonresidential premises, and powers to search goods.
Abstract
Section 5 of the Act gives the police power to impose a police cordon and power to impose parking prohibitions and restrictions. A cordon can be imposed if "expedient to do so in connection with an investigation into the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism." The parking prohibitions and restrictions can be authorized only "in order to prevent acts of terrorism." The Act also provides for widespread powers to search premises and persons found on those premises within cordoned areas. Businesses should be aware of this provision, as their premises may be searched during an emergency situation. Anything found on the premises or on any person there may be seized and retained if a constable has reasonable grounds for believing that it is likely to be of substantial value to the investigation. Section 2 of the Act enables the police to apply for a magistrate's warrant to search a list of nonresidential premises rather than just particular premises. Under the Act police have new power to search unaccompanied baggage and goods. If goods, such as an "innocent" load of fertilizer, are wrongly detained, then companies may suffer loss. Wider knowledge of and debate over provisions of the Act that may impact business costs and losses may prevent more damage to the livelihoods of many people without compromising efforts to prevent more casualties from terrorists' bombs. 14 references