[3] The Criminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Act 1998 was adopted after the August 15, 1998 Real IRA bombing in Omagh, Northern Ireland.

[6] The high number of terrorism-related statutes is attributed to the emergent legal activism in the UK, which is driven by the fear on the part of legislators of being blamed for inaction after the incidence of a terror event.

[6] This particular provision was abolished in 2002 based on a recommendation that the annual review did not contribute any real value to the scrutiny through the judicial process of the working of the Act.

There were critics who argued that the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act were obscurely worded and were hastily introduced in response to the Omagh bombing incident as well as the terrorist activities in Dar es Salaam and Kenya, which transpired prior to the law's passage.

[1] In a briefing, the Belfast-based Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) stated that the legislation was not only draconian but it also violated the UK's human rights obligations under international law.