ABSTRACT
The overall symmetry of counterterrorism policies, legislation, and practices has been radically transformed following the review into the UK counterterrorism agenda (HM Government 2011). The reforms include reducing the length of precharge detention, the abolishment of control orders for Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (T-PIMs), and finally having “reasonable suspicion” before stopping and searching someone under the Terrorism Act (Lewis 2010). Fenwick and Choudhury’s (2011, V) study into the impact of counterterrorism legislation and policies involved a number of in-depth interviews and focus groups which sought to explore the perception of both Muslims and non-Muslims across Britain about counterterrorism laws and policies in general. They state that
Many of the UK reforms concerning counterterrorism legislation discussed above have come at a time where the present government has come under fierce opposition from civil liberty groups to uphold its pledge that they would reexamine all counterterrorism policies which have been deemed to be hard-line approaches that risk stigmatizing communities (Spalek 2010). The chapter examines one such policy (control orders) and reviews the impact they have had on communities and their overall effectiveness in light of the rights of individuals to freedom of movement, freedom of association, freedom of communication; the right to liberty; and the right to a private family life.
