R v. Z (Appellant) (On Appeal from the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division))

An organisation is proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000 where the name listed in Schedule 2 is an umbrella or generic description encompassing that organisation. The listed name “The Irish Republican Army” includes its manifestations and splinter groups which claim to embody or represent the IRA, including the Real IRA.

Statutory language must be construed in the context of the Act as a whole, its historical setting and the mischief addressed. This purposive approach remains within the permissible bounds of interpretation and applies to penal legislation. Accordingly, belonging or professing to belong to the Real IRA constitutes the offence under section 11(1).

Four defendants were charged with belonging to the Real Irish Republican Army, contrary to section 11(1) of the Terrorism Act 2000. Girvan J held that the Real IRA was not proscribed by section 3 and Schedule 2 and acquitted them on those counts.

On a reference by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland, the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland held in [2004] NICA 23 that membership of the Real IRA fell within section 11(1). Z, an acquitted person, appealed.

The central issue was whether “The Irish Republican Army” in Schedule 2 was a generic description encompassing the Real IRA, or whether the Real IRA had to be separately listed or operate under precisely the same name.

1. Disposition. The House unanimously dismissed the appeal and answered the referred question affirmatively. A person who belongs or professes to belong to the Real IRA commits an offence under section 11(1) of the Terrorism Act 2000. Z was awarded his costs from central funds, while the Attorney General was to bear his own costs.

2. Construction in historical context. Lord Bingham held that statutory interpretation requires the court, within permissible bounds, to give effect to Parliament’s purpose. The provision must be read with the Act as a whole and against the historical situation which led to its enactment. Parliament had repeatedly used “The Irish Republican Army” while knowing that several organisations claimed the IRA identity. The description was intended to prevent proscription from depending upon difficult inquiries into the identity and relationships of secretive splinter groups.

3. The listed organisation. Lord Brown, with whose reasoning Lord Rodger agreed, held that “The Irish Republican Army” was an umbrella or generic name encompassing all smaller organisations which, by their names, claimed to embody or represent the IRA. Lord Carswell reached the same conclusion. The Real IRA was therefore included in Schedule 2 and proscribed under section 3(1)(a). Sections 107 and 108 reinforced that construction because they contemplated a specified organisation forming part of a larger proscribed organisation.

4. Alternative reasoning on section 3. Lord Bingham regarded section 3(1)(a) and (b) as imposing a composite inquiry covering the listed body, a part or emanation of it, and an organisation operating under its name. Lord Woolf also favoured treating the subsection as a composite whole. Lord Brown considered the limbs mutually exclusive and regarded section 3(1)(b) as confined to an independent organisation operating under an identical name. Lord Carswell agreed that section 3(1)(a) governed but reserved his opinion on section 3(1)(b).

5. Article 7. Lord Bingham accepted the principle that criminal liability requires a clearly defined offence and conduct which the accused could reasonably know was criminal. That requirement was satisfied: members of the Real IRA could not have been unaware that they belonged to a proscribed organisation.

1. House of Lords: In [2005] UKHL 35, unanimously dismissed Z’s appeal and affirmed the affirmative answer to the Attorney General’s referred question.
2. Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland: In [2004] NICA 23, allowed the Attorney General’s reference and held that belonging or professing to belong to the Real IRA constituted an offence under section 11(1) of the Terrorism Act 2000.
3. Crown Court at Belfast: Girvan J upheld the defendants’ objection that the Real IRA was not a proscribed organisation and acquitted them on the relevant counts.