Businesses and the Prevention of Terrorism (Additional Powers) Act 1996

The Prevention of Terrorism (Additional Powers) Act was rushed through Parliament in just 24 hours and 47 minutes, starting on Tuesday 2nd April. In the House of Commons the allocation of time for the Bill was debated at 3.43 pm, the Second Reading took place at 10.10 pm, the Third Reading at 1.21 am on Wednesday morning, and the Bill completed its passage through the House of Lords at 4.30 pm the same day. The Opposition acquiesced in the Bill being rushed through Parliament by the Government. The legislation allows the police to search clothing following the exercise of random stop and search powers, for which no reasonable grounds are required, and provides for searches of non‐residential premises on a warrant issued by a justice of the peace. It also permits searches of any goods on accompanied or unaccompanied vehicles entering or leaving Great Britain or Northern Ireland, and provides a power to impose a police cordon, and for the application of parking prohibitions and restrictions. The stop and search powers were the most controversial feature of the legislation, as potentially involving the greatest interference with individual liberty, and the implications of these powers are considered else‐where. This paper will examine some of the less publicised provisions contained in the Act, which have, possibly unforeseen, implications for businesses. This is especially likely given that due to the timetable motion (the guillotine) only cl. 1 of the Bill, on the stop and search powers, was actually considered by the House of Commons in Committee.