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A legal challenge to the Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release) Act 2020, which changed the legislative regime applicable to the early release of terrorist offenders, has been dismissed.

The legislation was introduced in the wake of the terrorist attacks at Fishmongers’ Hall and Streatham in November 2019 and February 2020, respectively. Its provisions introduced a requirement for Parole Board approval for the early release of terrorist offenders, and moved the point of eligibility for early release from halfway to the two-thirds point of any sentence.

The legislation was challenged under Articles 5, 7 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Divisional Court dismissed the claim for judicial review on all grounds.

Sir James Eadie QC, Jason Pobjoy and Celia Rooney acted for the Secretary of State for the Justice Department.

The full decision is available here.

Press coverage can be found here: BBC, The Telegraph and ITV.

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