Tackling Radicalisation: The Limitations of the Anti-Radicalisation Prevent Duty
David A. Barrett · Open Research Exeter (University of Exeter) · 2016
The past decade has seen the rise of a new threat, a state’s own radicalised citizens committing terrorist atrocities for a global cause. To respond to this threat, successive UK governments have introduced Prevent strategies in an attempt to counter the factors that lead to radicalisation. In 2015 the Coalition Government went further, introducing a specific legal duty (s 26(1) Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015). This duty requires specified authorities to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism. This article explores the requirements of the duty and its compatibility with the ECHR. Overall it is argued that rather than building on the Prevent strategies, the Prevent Duty has both accentuated the limitations of the strategies, while at the same time also creating new problems, both of which are likely to prove counter-productive and thus ultimately undermine the UK’s ability to prevent terrorism.