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Terrorism Bill

We have Amendment No. 85 in this group. We agree with what the noble and learned Lord, Lord Cameron of Lochbroom, said. Clause 8 provides that attendance at a place of training is an offence. The offence is committed if someone knows or believes that training is being provided for terrorist purposes or it was so obvious that any reasonable person would have spotted it. No special defences are available at all. The maximum sentence is 10 years. This clause has been considerably, and rightly, criticised. First, it seems that an offence is committed by someone’s presence in camp even for an instant after becoming aware that it is a terrorist camp. I doubt whether this is a serious problem because I suspect that a court would be likely to say that the clause must be interpreted to allow a reasonable time for departure. But it is better to avoid the issue by making it clear that no offence is committed if someone leaves as soon as practicable after realising that he is in a terrorist training camp. Secondly, some people have raised the possibility that someone might attend the training camp not for terrorist purposes, but perhaps as a journalist wishing to expose what is going on. Amendment No. 85 also covers this and other cases such as that of a woman who attends a camp not in order to receive training, but as a companion to her husband or partner, which again should not be a criminal offence. We think it is reasonable to treat these as special defences, but for the reasons explained in relation to Amendment No. 74, the defences should require only an evidential burden.