an old dagger
For security professionals, the implication is straightforward: professional judgement will increasingly be assessed against published benchmarks rather than informal custom and practice. Security practitioners occupy a critical space between legal duty and operational reality.
Martyn’s Law does not require the elimination of risk, something the law has never demanded, but it does require evidence of reasonable, informed, and proportionate decision-making. This is where professional competence in security matters. Understanding threat, translating guidance into practical measures, and advising duty holders on what is reasonably practicable in their specific environment will be core skills. Importantly, Martyn’s Law should not be viewed as a counter-terrorism project alone. It is about preparedness, resilience, and consequence management. Much of the value lies in improving how people spot concerns, communicate, respond under stress, and recover from incidents, terrorism or otherwise.
While the full statutory guidance from the Security Industry Authority (SIA) is still to
come, security professionals do not need to wait to start preparing. Three actions stand out.
1. Normalise counter terrorism within existing risk management
Terrorism risk should be integrated into existing safety, security, and enterprise risk-management processes, not treated as a standalone or specialist add-on. Review current risk assessments and ask a simple question: if this were a fire or facilities risk, would our analysis be considered adequate? If not, it is unlikely to stand up under Martyn’s Law.
2. Focus on people, not just equipment
The legislation places significant emphasis on staff awareness, training, and preparedness. Security professionals should prioritise behaviours: recognising suspicious activities, effective incident management and escalation, clear communication, and confident response. These are simple but impactive measures that align strongly with both current duty of care law and future compliance expectations.
© CITY SECURITY MAGAZINE – SPRING 2026
www.citysecuritymagazine.com
3. Strengthen governance and assurance
Boards and senior leaders will ultimately be accountable. Security professionals should help organisations evidence decision-making: why certain measures were adopted, why others were not, and how proportionality was assessed. Clear
documentation, assurance processes, and regular review cycles will be as important as physical or procedural controls.
Martyn’s Law represents an important legislative milestone, but it should not be viewed as an abrupt departure from existing legal principles. Rather, it formalises what duty of care has been quietly demanding for years: that foreseeable
terrorism risk is recognised, assessed, and managed in a proportionate way.
For security professionals, this is less about learning an entirely new discipline and more about applying existing professional judgement with greater structure, confidence, and accountability.
Those who start preparing now, by embedding terrorism risk management into everyday safety thinking, are likely to find compliance far less daunting when the law is in force.
Andrew Donaldson MSc BSc (Hons) CSyP FSyI Security Institute,
Director of Counter Terrorism
>
8
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36
