ECSH22000 - The Terrorism Act 2000

The Terrorism Act 2000 (TA 2000) (as amended by the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 (ATCSA 2001) and the Terrorism Act 2006 (TA 2006)), sets out the primary offences relating to terrorist funding. Under section 21A TA 2000, a person commits an offence if he has knowledge  or suspicion of offences related to terrorist financing (under sections 15-18). Section 21A TA 2000 makes it an offence if a person fails to disclose this knowledge or suspicion. Those offences include the following: 

  • Fund-raising, for the purposes of terrorism (section 15 TA 2000) 

  • Using or possessing money or other property for the purposes of terrorism (section 16 TA 2000) 

  • Involvement in funding arrangements (section 17 TA 2000) 

  • Money laundering (becoming concerned in an arrangement relating to the retention or control of property likely to be used for the purposes of terrorism (section 18 TA 2000)).  

Section 21A(5) TA2000 lists the defences that may be available to persons charged with failing to disclose knowledge of the above offences. For instance, if a person can show they had a reasonable excuse for not disclosing information relating to the offence, that person will not have committed an offence.