Terrorists face a minimum of 14 years behind bars for serious offences and tougher monitoring, as a new Bill enters Parliament today (20 May 2020)
The Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill marks the largest overhaul of terrorist sentencing and monitoring in decades.
It will end early release for terror offenders who receive Extended Determinate Sentences, where the maximum penalty was life, and force them to serve their whole term in jail.
It will also see the most dangerous offenders - those found guilty of serious terror offences such as the worst examples of preparing acts of terrorism - handed a minimum 14-year prison term and up to 25 years on licence.
Justice Secretary & Lord Chancellor, Rt Hon Robert Buckland QC MP, said:
The Bill will also allow the courts to consider if any serious offence is terror-related, for example an offence involving firearms where there is a proven terrorist connection, and allow tougher sentences to be imposed.
This would rule out any possibility of a serious terror offender being released automatically before the end of their sentence.
Key measures of the Bill include:
Home Secretary, Priti Patel said:
The Bill follows emergency legislation passed in February which retrospectively ended automatic early release for terrorist offenders serving standard determinate sentences. This forced them to spend a minimum two-thirds of their term behind bars before being considered for release by the Parole Board.
It builds on recent government action to bolster the country’s response to terrorism and ensure we have some of the strongest measures in the world to tackle the threat. This includes:
In addition a nationwide network of counter-terrorism specialists is now embedded throughout the prison and probation service and supported by the 29,000 staff who are trained to spot the signs of extremism.