GCHQ can no longer use the Terrorism Act to hide their activities
In 2013, David Miranda was arrested and detained under the Terrorism Act for helping his journalist partner Glenn Greenwald report on documents supplied by Edward Snowden. Miranda was held and interviewed for nine hours without access to a lawyer. This month, the Court of Appeal has ruled that Miranda’s detention constituted a breach of human rights. More significantly, the court also dismissed the definition of terrorism used by the government to enforce the Terrorism Act, as it includes actions that are neither violent nor extremist. The definition the government put forward for Terrorism referred to the disclosure of documents for the purpose of influencing politics. Simply reporting on important documents that show the fallibility of political institutions would be an act of terrorism. But what exactly does the court’s decision against Miranda’s detention and against the government’s definition of terrorism mean for people like you?
It’s important to understand the documents David Miranda was helping to report on were documents that exposed some of the practices of GCHQ. Had the government’s definition of terrorism and ‘right’ to detain individuals like Miranda been upheld, the state would have had the ability to suppress information that cast GCHQ and other intelligence gathering services in a negative light. The fact that the Court of Appeal ruled that the detention of David Miranda was unlawful means that journalists and whistle-blowers are still able to report on information to do with Britain’s intelligence services. Thanks to the court’s decision, ordinary people will be able to stay informed about the activities of GCHQ.
GCHQ has been a source of considerable controversy in recent years, as the extent of mass surveillance practices have come to light. It is hardly surprising that the UK government would want to use the Terrorism Act to prevent their intelligence service coming under greater scrutiny. However, the court’s decision will make it much harder to keep the public in the dark about the activities of Britain’s spy service.
David Greenwald called the ruling “an enormous victory, first and foremost for press freedoms”. We try to remain objective and unbiased here at 1st Call Detectives, but we can’t help but agree with him.