To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the criteria are for placing a terrorist group on his Department’s list of proscribed organisations. (90140)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are used for including a group on the List of Proscribed Groups. (90016)

Section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000 provides a power for the Home Secretary to proscribe an organisation which he believes is concerned in terrorism. This is done by adding the organisation to Schedule 2 of the Terrorism Act 2000 which lists proscribed organisations. An organisation is concerned in terrorism if it commits or participates in acts of terrorism, prepares for terrorism, promotes or encourages terrorism or is otherwise concerned in terrorism. This power was extended by section 21 of the Terrorism Act 2006 to include those organisations which glorify the commission or preparation of acts of terrorism. Glorification includes any form of praise or celebration of acts of terrorism. When deciding on whether to make an Order proscribing a group a number of additional factors are taken into account and these were published in 2001. They are the nature and scale of an organisation's activities, the specific threat that it poses to the United Kingdom, the specific threat that it poses to British national overseas, the organisation’s presence in the United Kingdom and the need to support other members of the international community in their fight against terrorism.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration is being given to extending the Home Office's list of proscribed terrorist groups. (95771)

[holding answer 19 October 2006]: The list of organisations proscribed in the UK is kept under constant review.