Authorities encountering the kind of civil disorder that has marked the last few days in Britain are best advised to keep a cool head and quietly deploy the powers of the ordinary law to face it down. Unfortunately there are worrying signs that this is not happening. The announcement from the Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson that the Crown Prosecution Service favours on occasion invoking terrorism laws against those co-ordinating the unrest, is a case in point.
True, in doing this the CPS would be strictly within its rights. In law, any action designed to influence the government and involving violence or serious damage to property with intent to advance a political cause is regarded as terrorism. This this clearly would cover any of the recent protests which have turned violent. But using terrorism laws would amount to a cure worse than the disease.
We have to remember that, unlike ordinary offences, state powers in cases of terrorism are drastic
For one thing, it would give those involved an over-extended idea of their own importance.
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