Rights and LimitsPorts, airports and the borderSchedule 7: stopped at a port or airport
Schedule 7: stopped at a port or airport
There is a short and simple version of this page. One idea per sentence, no legal words.
What you must do, and what you can refuse
Every claim below links to the law it comes from, with the wording quoted so you can check it yourself.
You must
Refusing is a criminal offence.
Give the examining officer any information in your possession that they request.
Terrorism Act 2000, Schedule 7, paragraph 5
“A person who is questioned under paragraph 2 or 3 must— give the examining officer any information in his possession which the officer requests”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-25
Wilfully failing to comply is a criminal offence.
Terrorism Act 2000, Schedule 7, paragraph 18(1)
“A person commits an offence if he— wilfully fails to comply with a duty imposed under or by virtue of this Schedule”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-25
The penalty on summary conviction is up to three months’ imprisonment.
Terrorism Act 2000, Schedule 7, paragraph 18(2)(a)
“imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-25
Lawful to refuse — but it costs you
Not an offence, but it carries a penalty or an inference.
The power is to question you in order to determine whether you appear to be concerned in terrorism, not because you are already suspected.
So "you had no reason to stop me" is not the objection people expect it to be.
Terrorism Act 2000, Schedule 7, paragraph 2(1)
“An examining officer may question a person to whom this paragraph applies for the purpose of determining whether he appears to be a person falling within section 40(1)(b).”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-25
The single biggest gap in UK rights advice
Almost every “know your rights” guide in this country tells you that you never have to answer police questions. At a port, an airport, an international rail terminal or in the border area, that is simply wrong, and acting on it is a criminal offence.
Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 lets an examining officer stop and question you to determine whether you appear to be someone concerned in terrorism. Two features make it unlike anything else:
- No suspicion is required. You do not have to have done anything, or look like you have.
- There is no right to silence. You are under a legal duty to answer, and refusing is an offence.
What you must hand over
The duty is broad: any information in your possession that the officer requests, a valid passport or other identity document, a declaration of what documents you are carrying, and any such document on request.
Officers may also examine electronic devices and take copies of data. This is the reason people who travel for sensitive work — journalists, lawyers, researchers — often travel with clean devices rather than argue the point at the desk.
What is still true
You can ask whether you are being examined under Schedule 7, and you should — it changes everything about your position.
There are limits on how long an examination can last, and if you are detained rather than merely examined, further rights attach, including access to a solicitor. Answers given under Schedule 7 compulsion are generally not admissible against you in a criminal trial, though that protection does not extend to prosecutions for giving false information.
If this happens to you, get a solicitor with counter-terrorism experience afterwards. Schedule 7 stops are recorded, and repeat stops are a pattern worth advice.
Last reviewed 2026-08-25. Next review due 2027-02-25. No solicitor has reviewed this page — see [email protected] if you think something here is wrong.