Police ordered to give reasons in closed court for seizing phone of UK Hamas lawyer | Computer Weekly

"North Wales Police has been ordered to disclose the reasons for stopping a UK lawyer who represented Hamas and seizing the contents of mobile phone to closed-door court hearing. Justice Martin Chamberlain said that he did not accept that North Wales Police could simply assert there was a lawful basis for stopping and copying the contents of solicitor Fahad Ansari's phone, without saying what the reason was."

"Solicitor Fahad Ansari, who represented Hamas in a legal challenge to overturn its status in the UK as a proscribed terrorist organisation, is seeking a judicial review after being stopped by police and his mobile phone seized. Ansari, an Irish citizen, argues that he was unlawfully stopped, detained and questioned under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act after he drove off a ferry with his family at Holyhead after visiting relatives in Ireland in August."

"The case is understood to be the first time police have used Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act - which allows police to stop people without grounds for suspicion - to seize and copy the contents of a phone belonging to a solicitor in the UK. Ansari said that his phone contained material used for work, and that accessing it would breach the legal privilege of clients dating back 15 years."

North Wales Police has been ordered to disclose reasons for stopping a UK lawyer who represented Hamas and for seizing the contents of his mobile phone at a closed-door hearing. The court rejected an assertion that a lawful basis for stopping and copying the phone could be claimed without explanation. The court refused to prevent a police-appointed independent legal counsel from restarting a review of the phone before any judicial-review appeal after the police undertook not to share seized material with investigators pending a further hearing. The solicitor, Fahad Ansari, seeks judicial review, alleging unlawful stop, detention and questioning under Schedule 7 and breach of longstanding client legal privilege.

Read at ComputerWeekly.com