Counter-Terrorism Law and Free Speech on Campus

A rare Equality Act 2010 challenge to a referral under Prevent, the UK’s counter-terrorism programme for identifying and responding to suspected signs of radicalisation, has ended with a County Court finding that a school unlawfully discriminated against a Muslim schoolboy. Although a first-instance decision, the ruling has important implications for universities. The case foregrounds a risk inherent in Prevent’s precautionary referral process that the lawful expression of staff and students may be recast as evidence of radicalisation through a linguistic gloss unsupported by the underlying facts.