Expat Brit here. Quite frankly I'm frightened to pass through UK ports now to visit family after reading about Schedule 7 powers.
My reading of it is that passing through a UK port means I enter a legal limbo. If stopped by an inquisitor, I'm likely to assert my right to silence. This may mean I'm detained and intimidated for 9 hours. At the end of this I can be arrested and charged with 'non-cooperation', this may involve further detention and/or fines all for simply remaining silent.
Leaving the UK is worse, as I'll likely miss my flight, and have the expense of re-booking.
This is just if the border agents are acting within 'the law'.
Virtually every UK citizen passes through a port at sometime during the year - the inquistors can simply wait there for anyone they are interested in. It effectively means the right to silence is dead.
Foreign visitors should be aware they can be legally forced to give up their Gmail/Facebook passwords. Hope Big Ben is worth it.
I wonder what the plans are for Julian Assange when he eventually leaves the UK - almost certain to be detained under Schedule 7.
> Quite frankly I'm frightened to pass through UK ports now to visit family after reading about Schedule 7 powers.
I'm not going to worry about it too much, myself. The statute is quite clear that you can only be questioned to establish whether you appear to be a terrorist. The law has been broken in the case of David Miranda. I hope he will sue -- as he has threatened -- so that Special Branch know that they can't get away with breaking the law in this way.
Chapter and verse:
Schedule 7, 2 (1) An examining officer may question a person to whom this paragraph applies for the purpose of determining whether he appears to be a person falling within section 40(1)(b).
(1) In this Part “terrorist” means a person who—
(a) has committed an offence under any of sections 11, 12, 15 to 18, 54 and 56 to 63, or
(b) is or has been concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.
If you're worried about this, perhaps you should also be worried about entering the US -- including in transit -- in case you are declared to be an unperson and sent to Gitmo with no trial or legal recourse. It's a bit worse than a maximum of nine hours of pointless tedium and handing over your Gmail/Facebook passwords which -- let's face it -- the spooks will have if they want them anyway.
As for Assange, if they get their hands on him, they will ship him to Sweden. He's spent the last year holed up in one room: I doubt another nine hours would bother him too much.
>If you're worried about this, perhaps you should also be worried about entering the US -- including in transit -- in case you are declared to be an unperson and sent to Gitmo with no trial or legal recourse.
Quite.
>It's a bit worse than a maximum of nine hours of pointless tedium and handing over your Gmail/Facebook passwords which -- let's face it -- the spooks will have if they want them anyway.
I think you missed my point. Asserting your right to silence is a crime in this situation. You can be further detained, charged, prosecuted, jailed and/or fined for asserting a basic right.
If stopped by an inquisitor, I'm likely to assert my right to silence. This may mean I'm detained and intimidated for 9 hours.
It's worse than this - since border zones are considered legal no-mans-land, you actually don't have the right to silence in those areas (i.e. it's an imprisonable offence not to co-operate). This is one of the significant points in the Miranda case, the fact that normal protections afforded to journalists don't apply in these areas.
Yes, Miranda said he was told that he would be jailed if he didn't co-operate, and that he was worried he would be kidnapped (gitmoed). So obviously a lot of intimidation going on there.
My reading of it is that passing through a UK port means I enter a legal limbo. If stopped by an inquisitor, I'm likely to assert my right to silence. This may mean I'm detained and intimidated for 9 hours. At the end of this I can be arrested and charged with 'non-cooperation', this may involve further detention and/or fines all for simply remaining silent.
Leaving the UK is worse, as I'll likely miss my flight, and have the expense of re-booking.
This is just if the border agents are acting within 'the law'.
Virtually every UK citizen passes through a port at sometime during the year - the inquistors can simply wait there for anyone they are interested in. It effectively means the right to silence is dead.
Foreign visitors should be aware they can be legally forced to give up their Gmail/Facebook passwords. Hope Big Ben is worth it.
I wonder what the plans are for Julian Assange when he eventually leaves the UK - almost certain to be detained under Schedule 7.