Just a very short notification to report that the Court decided today that the United Kingdom’s stop and search powers for the police are too wide and that no adequate safeguards against abuse exist. The Terrorism Act 2000 permits any uniformed police officer to stop and search anyone for items which could be used for terrorism, even in the absence of any reasonable suspicion. These powers are used thousands of times a year. In the case of Gillan and Quinton – about a journalist and a protester on their way to an anti-armsfair protest being stopped and searched in 2003 – the Court held unanimously that Article 8 had been violated.
The photo is of a painting by the famous graffiti artist Banksy.
