Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005

Special powers to make rules of court

4(1)Rules of court made in exercise of the relevant powers may, in particular—

(a)make provision about the mode of proof in control order proceedings and about evidence in such proceedings;

(b)enable or require such proceedings to be determined without a hearing; and

(c)make provision about legal representation in such proceedings.

(2)Rules of court made in exercise of the relevant powers may also, in particular—

(a)make provision enabling control order proceedings or relevant appeal proceedings to take place without full particulars of the reasons for decisions to which the proceedings relate being given to a relevant party to the proceedings or his legal representative (if he has one);

(b)make provision enabling the relevant court to conduct proceedings in the absence of any person, including a relevant party to the proceedings and his legal representative (if he has one);

(c)make provision about the functions in control order proceedings and relevant appeal proceedings of persons appointed under paragraph 7; and

(d)make provision enabling the relevant court to give a relevant party to control order proceedings or relevant appeal proceedings a summary of evidence taken in his absence.

(3)Rules of court made in exercise of the relevant powers must secure—

(a)that in control order proceedings and relevant appeal proceedings the Secretary of State is required (subject to rules made under the following paragraphs) to disclose all relevant material;

(b)that the Secretary of State has the opportunity to make an application to the relevant court for permission not to disclose relevant material otherwise than to that court and persons appointed under paragraph 7;

(c)that such an application is always considered in the absence of every relevant party to the proceedings and of his legal representative (if he has one);

(d)that the relevant court is required to give permission for material not to be disclosed where it considers that the disclosure of the material would be contrary to the public interest;

(e)that, where permission is given by the relevant court not to disclose material, it must consider requiring the Secretary of State to provide the relevant party and his legal representative (if he has one) with a summary of the material;

(f)that the relevant court is required to ensure that such a summary does not contain information or other material the disclosure of which would be contrary to the public interest;

(g)that provision satisfying the requirements of sub-paragraph (4) applies where the Secretary of State does not have the relevant court’s permission to withhold relevant material from a relevant party to the proceedings or his legal representative (if he has one), or is required to provide a summary of such material to that party or his legal representative.

(4)The provision that satisfies the requirements of this sub-paragraph is provision which, in a case where the Secretary of State elects not to disclose the relevant material or (as the case may be) not to provide the summary, authorises the relevant court—

(a)if it considers that the relevant material or anything that is required to be summarised might be of assistance to a relevant party in relation to a matter under consideration by that court, to give directions for securing that the matter is withdrawn from the consideration of that court; and

(b)in any other case, to ensure that the Secretary of State does not rely in the proceeding on the material or (as the case may be) on what is required to be summarised.

(5)In this paragraph “relevant material”, in relation to any proceedings, means—

(a)any information or other material that is available to the Secretary of State and relevant to the matters under consideration in those proceedings; or

(b)the reasons for decisions to which the proceedings relate.