The government have started to bring in an emergency terror legislation that will prevent convicted terrorists from being freed halfway through their sentence.
The terror bill, if passed will ensure around 50 convicted terrorists currently in prison will not be released automatically.
It will also ensure the Parole Board will undertake a “thorough assessment” prior to any decision being made on their release and those not fit to be in society will remain for the full duration of their sentence.
However, legal arguments could be bought against the government for those who were sentenced under the current rules.
Raj Chada, head of the criminal defence department and a partner at firm Hodge Jones & Allen told the PA, “Lots of lawyers are looking at a challenge.
“In particular, there may be an argument that a change to existing clients who have already been sentenced would be contrary to Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
“You cannot create a new offence after an act has been committed, and you cannot impose a higher penalty than that would have been imposed at the time that the offence was committed.
“So, no punishment can be retroactive.”
The government are wanting the new legislation to be passed in to an Act of law with royal consent by the end of the month.
Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said, “No dangerous terrorist should be released automatically only to go on to kill and maim innocent people on our streets.
“Enough is enough. This government will do whatever it takes to keep the public safe, including making sure no terror offender is released early without a thorough risk assessment by the Parole Board.”
Home Secretary Priti Patel said these terrorist attacks are a “stark reminder of the threat we continue to face from terrorism.”
Patel said, “We are determined to ensure that dangerous terrorists are not free to spread their hateful ideologies or harm the public.
“We are already boosting funding for counter-terrorism police and victims of terrorism and this legislation will ensure terrorist offenders are not released early unless there has been a full assessment of the risks.”
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