Lesson Objectives: To understand the background and purpose of Martyn’s Law; define scope of applicable venues / events; identify Standard vs Enhanced Tiers.
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, also known as Martyn’s Law, was introduced to ensure that publicly accessible locations in the UK are better prepared for and protected against, the threat of terrorism. It was named in honour of Martyn Hett, one of the victims of the 2017 Manchester Arena attack, whose mother, Figen Murray, campaigned for stronger legal protections to safeguard the public.
The Act addresses a critical gap in previous legislation: prior to its enactment, there was no legal requirement for most public venues to consider or prepare for a terrorist threat. Investigations following several attacks revealed that many venues lacked even the most basic protective measures. Martyn’s Law aims to change that by embedding a culture of preparedness, proportionate to the nature of the premises or event.
Definitions and Scope of Premises and Events
Martyn’s Law applies to qualifying premises and qualifying public events, as defined under the Act. These are premises or events that:
Qualifying Premises:
These include buildings or permanent structures such as:
Qualifying Events:
These include temporary or seasonal events such as:
To fall within the scope, these events must:
Some venues and events are excluded under Schedule 2 of the Act, such as private residences, offices not open to the public and certain government or transport premises which are covered by other security legislation.
The Act introduces a tiered approach based on the capacity of a premises or event:
Standard Tier (200–799 people):
Applies to venues expecting at least 200 but fewer than 800 people at any one time:
Enhanced Tier (800+ people):
Applies to venues / events expecting 800 or more people at any one time:
Note: Where the responsible person for enhanced duty premises or a qualifying event is not an individual, they must designate a senior individual. This must be someone who has responsibility for managing the affairs of the relevant body as a whole, such as a director or partner, rather than a lower-level employee.
The primary function of the senior individual is to ensure that the responsible person (the body) complies with the relevant legislative requirements, which serves a wider objective of engaging senior management in decision-making relating to the requirements of this Act. The senior individual does not need to take responsibility for carrying out actions to fulfil the requirements but should have overall responsibility within the body that is the responsible person.
These two tiers ensure that measures are proportionate to risk, recognising that larger venues may face a higher threat profile or greater consequences in the event of an attack.
In the next Lesson, we will explore the responsibilities of the Responsible Person in more detail, including their legal duties, documentation and how to manage compliance in real-world settings.
