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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

The Court of Appeal in London has ruled David Miranda's detention at Heathrow Airport lawful [bbc.com], but has delivered Miranda a partial victory by ruling that the Terrorism Act violates the rights of the free press:

The police detention of the partner of a former Guardian journalist at Heathrow Airport in 2013 was lawful, the Court of Appeal has decided.

David Miranda was carrying material from whistleblower Edward Snowden about security services' surveillance. He argued the stop had been a disproportionate use of anti-terrorism powers and breached human rights law. Judges did not agree with his claim [judiciary.gov.uk], but did say existing laws did not offer enough safeguards for reporters.

They said the use of legislation under the Terrorism Act 2000 at ports and airports, "in respect of journalistic information or material", is incompatible with Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights - freedom of expression - and should be examined by Parliament.

The Intercept's coverage of this story [theintercept.com] was written by Ryan Gallagher (rather than Glenn Greenwald). It emphasizes that the Terrorism Act has been found to be incompatible with press rights:

The ruling finds that the police followed the law when detaining Miranda under a controversial section of the Terrorism Act, Schedule 7 [legislation.gov.uk]. However, crucially, it asserts that the statute itself "is not subject to adequate safeguards against its arbitrary exercise" and is "incompatible" with Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights [rightsinfo.org], which provides the right to "receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers."

The Court of Appeal's most senior judge, Lord Dyson MR, stated in the ruling that he accepted there were already some "constraints on the exercise of the power" but he believed that these "do not afford effective protection of journalists' Article 10 rights."

[...] Responding to the news Tuesday, Miranda tweeted [twitter.com] that he was "Thrilled with the court ruling!" He added: "My purpose was to show U.K.'s terrorism law violates press freedoms. And journalism isn't 'terrorism.' We won!"

The British government could attempt to launch a challenge against the court of appeal's ruling with the U.K.'s supreme court. However, it was not immediately clear whether it intends to pursue the case further.

Previously: David Miranda Appeals Heathrow Detention Decision [soylentnews.org]

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