Section 81: Preparation or training abroad for terrorism
325.Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006 makes it an offence to engage in any conduct in preparation for giving effect to an intention to commit, or assist another to commit, one or more acts of terrorism. Section 6 of the 2006 Act makes it an offence to provide or receive training for terrorism. The maximum penalty for these offences is life imprisonment and 10 years’ imprisonment respectively(35). Section 17 of the 2006 Act provides for extra-territorial jurisdiction (that is, the offence may be tried in this country in respect of acts committed abroad) in respect of certain other offences under that Act, namely the offences in sections 1 (encouragement of terrorism), 6 (training for terrorism), 8 (attendance at a placed used for terrorism training) and 9 to 11 (offences involving radioactive devices and materials and nuclear facilities) of the 2006 Act, and sections 11 (membership of proscribed organisations) and 54 (weapons training) of the Terrorism Act 2000. However, in the case of the section 1 and 6 offences, the extra-territoriality is limited in that it only applies insofar as those offences are committed in relation to the commission, preparation, or instigation of one or more “Convention offences”. “Convention offences” are those to which EU Member States are required to extend extra-territorial jurisdiction as a result of Article 14 of the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism (May 2005); the relevant offences are set out in Schedule 1 to the 2006 Act. In the case of the section 5 offence, there is no extra-territorial jurisdiction.
326.This section (together with the consequential amendments in paragraph 74 of Schedule 4) amends section 17(2) to provide for extra-territorial jurisdiction for the section 5 offence and to extend the existing extra-territorial jurisdiction for the section 6 offence. As a result, a person who does anything outside of the UK which would constitute an offence under section 5 or 6 (whether in relation to a Convention offence or terrorism more widely) could be tried in the UK courts were they to return to this country. Extra-territorial jurisdiction is appropriate for these offences because the places where training or preparation for terrorism are taking place are increasingly likely to be located abroad. Extending the territorial jurisdiction in respect of these offences may allow for prosecutions of people preparing or training more generally for terrorism who have, for example, travelled from the UK to fight in Syria, where various terrorist groups, including Al-Qaida affiliated groups, are involved in the conflict.
Section 1(3) of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 increases the maximum penalty for the offence in section 6 of the 2006 Act to life imprisonment (this provision is not yet in force).
