Report of the Independent Commission on UK Counter-Terrorism Law, Policy and Practice

The Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law is pleased to announce the publication of the final report of the Independent Commission on Counter-Terrorism Law, Policy and Practice, chaired by the Rt Hon Sir Declan Morgan KC PC, former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland. 

After three years of research and consultation with over 200 experts, practitioners, policymakers, academics, and community representatives, the Commission presents 113 recommendations to ensure the UK's counter-terrorism framework remains effective, proportionate, and firmly rooted in the Rule of Law.

Project Report

The report finds that while the UK's counter-terrorism system remains among the most capable globally, it has expanded in scope and complexity—sometimes at the expense of focus, transparency, and public confidence.

Key recommendations include:

•  A major overhaul of the Prevent programme, placing it within a local, multi-agency safeguarding model that covers a range of violence-related risks to public safety.
• A narrower statutory definition of terrorism, ensuring precision, proportionality, and protection for lawful protest.
• Reform of proscription powers, raising the legal test, introducing automatic reviews, and ensuring stronger parliamentary scrutiny.
• Reform of terrorism offences, tightening evidential thresholds and improving guidance to ensure prosecutions are proportionate, fair, and grounded in clear intent.
• Restoring fairness and equality in citizenship law, limiting deprivation of citizenship to narrowly defined circumstances, strengthening safeguards and judicial oversight, and ensuring equal treatment under the law.
• A national strategy for social cohesion, recognising that long-term security depends on inclusion, equality, and community resilience.
• Expanded oversight powers for the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, and systematic, transparent evaluation across all counter-terrorism measures.

The report's concluding observations highlight six guiding principles for reform — effectiveness, proportionality, accountability, fair process, equal treatment, and evidence-based policy — as the foundation for a modern, legitimate, and rights-respecting counter-terrorism system.

This landmark report offers a practical roadmap for reform to strengthen both security and the Rule of Law.