Solicitor Representing Hamas Refused “AF(3)” Disclosure

In a judgment issued today, the High Court has ruled that the disclosure standard in SSHD v AF (No. 3) [2009] UKHL 28, [2010] 2 AC 269 does not apply to an examination under Schedule 7 to the Terrorism Act 2000. The police are not therefore required to disclose any material to a Claimant which would harm national security in such cases.

The case concerned the stop and “examination” by police of Fahad Ansari who is a solicitor acting for Hamas in its application for deproscription as a terrorist group. The Schedule 7 power does not require that the examining officer has any grounds to suspect that the person is engaged in terrorist activity.

The court also doubted whether there is a “spectrum of disclosure” in cases which engage Article 6 of the Convention concluding that the correct approach is simply to ask whether the case engages the disclosure standard in AF (No. 3); when it does not, the court must ensure that no information is disclosed that would damage national security.

You can read the judgment here

Matthew Butt KC was instructed for the Chief Constable of North Wales Police leading Georgina Wolfe of 5 Essex Chambers.

4th March 2026