Stopped at a port or airport: Schedule 7 and your phone

Paragraph 2 of Schedule 7 to the Terrorism Act 2000 applies to a person if he is at a port or in the border area and the examining officer believes that the person’s presence at the port or in the area is connected with his entering or leaving Great Britain or Northern Ireland or his travelling by air within Great Britain or within Northern Ireland. Paragraph 2(3) says it also applies to a person on a ship or aircraft which has arrived at any place in Great Britain or Northern Ireland (whether from within or outside Great Britain or Northern Ireland). Paragraph 2(1) says an examining officer may question a person to whom the paragraph applies for the purpose of determining whether he appears to be a person falling within section 40(1)(b). Paragraph 2(4) says an examining officer may exercise his powers under that paragraph “whether or not he has grounds for suspecting that a person falls within section 40(1)(b)”.

Paragraph 4 of Schedule 7 says a place in Northern Ireland is within the border area for the purposes of paragraphs 2 and 3 if it is no more than one mile from the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It also says that, if a train goes from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland, the first place in Northern Ireland at which it stops for the purpose of allowing passengers to leave is within the border area for the purposes of paragraphs 2 and 3.

Paragraph 5(a) says a person who is questioned under paragraph 2 or 3 must give the examining officer any information in his possession which the officer requests. The Schedule 7 Code of Practice says that information requested under paragraph 5(a) “may include passwords to electronic devices”; the same paragraph says an examining officer may not, however, compel a person to disclose or confirm the identity of a source of journalistic information or disclose information subject to legal privilege. That is a rule for the examining officer. As quoted, it does not give the person a right to refuse any Schedule 7 duty. The Code also says that “The person must provide access to any electronic device to allow for a search to be undertaken, including where access to a device requires the person to unlock a device through application of their thumb or finger, or any other form of access control”.

Paragraph 18(1) says a person commits an offence if he wilfully fails to comply with a duty imposed under or by virtue of the Schedule, wilfully contravenes a prohibition imposed under or by virtue of that Schedule, or wilfully obstructs, or seeks to frustrate, a search or examination under or by virtue of that Schedule; paragraph 18(2) says a person guilty of an offence under that paragraph is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale, or both.

Paragraph 8(1)(a) says an examining officer who questions a person under paragraph 2 may, for the purpose of determining whether he falls within section 40(1)(b), search the person. The Schedule 7 Code says an examining officer who is a constable may copy anything obtained under paragraph 5, searched or found on a search under paragraph 8, or anything examined under paragraph 9, and that this includes making copies of electronic data. Paragraph 11 applies to anything which is given to an examining officer in accordance with paragraph 5(d), is searched or found on a search under paragraph 8, or is examined under paragraph 9. Under paragraph 11(2) an examining officer may detain the thing for the purpose of examination, for a period not exceeding seven days beginning with the day on which the detention commences; while he believes that it may be needed for use as evidence in criminal proceedings; or while he believes that it may be needed in connection with a decision by the Secretary of State whether to make a deportation order under the Immigration Act 1971.

This page covers the seizure and device side of a Schedule 7 stop. For the full picture — how long an examination itself can last, what happens if you are detained rather than just examined, and what protections still apply — see rightsandlimits.com’s Schedule 7 page. Related situations are covered on the page on a work phone at a UK port and, for England and Wales, the page on journalistic and source material.