Purpose

• The primary purpose of the Criminal Justice Act of 1998 was to clarify laws related to terrorism and organized crime, along with adding new laws to deal specifically with evidence gathered from terrorists. This is important in the United Kingdom (and especially in Northern Ireland) because of the continual threat from terrorist organizations connected with Northern Ireland independence.
  
  

Features

• The act states that a statement involving an individual's membership in a suspected criminal or terrorist organization is permissible in court as evidence, but an individual may not face trial solely on this evidence. This law is the same in Northern Ireland, but it adds clarification that the Northern Ireland Sentences Act of 1998 deems some specific groups as terrorist organizations. The secretary of state also can identify groups as terrorist organizations.
  
  

Penalties

• Individuals convicted of terrorism forfeit all money and property they had on them at the time of their arrest and any money or property acquired or related to their criminal enterprise.
  
  

Benefits

• By further clarifying the laws against individuals suspected of terrorism, the act also allows the United Kingdom to better work with other countries. One example of this in the act is that individuals suspected of forming a conspiracy to commit terrorism in the United Kingdom, but not against the United Kingdom, can face arrest.