Britain curbs stop-and-search terrorism powers

terror-related activities.

She was responding to a European Court of Human Rights judgement earlier this year that Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000,which allows police to search people without suspicion,was illegal.

8220;Officers will no longer be able to search individuals using section 44 powers. Instead,they will have to rely on section 43 powers 8212; which require officers to reasonably suspect the person to be a terrorist,8221; May told the House of Commons.

8220;And officers will only be able to use section 44 in relation to the searches of vehicles.

8220;I will only confirm these authorisations where they are considered to be necessary 8212; and officers will only be able to use them when they have 8216;reasonable suspicion8217;.8221;

The new guidelines will be in place until a wide-ranging review of counter-terrorism legislation has been conducted by Prime Minister David Cameron8217;s new coalition government,she said.

Shami Chakrabarti,director of civil liberties group Liberty,welcomed the move,saying Section 44 had 8220;criminalised and alienated more people than it ever protected8221;.

8220;It is a blanket and secretive power that has been used against school kids,journalists,peace protesters and a disproportionate number of young black men,8221; she said.

8220;To our knowledge,it has never helped catch a single terrorist. This is a very important day for personal privacy,protest rights and race equality in Britain.8221;

In a unanimous ruling in January,seven European Court judges said the searches breached the complainants8217; right to respect for their private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

May said the government could not appeal the ruling but would not have done so even if it could.