Martyn’s Law is now on the statute book: what venues and events need to know -

Martyn’s Law is now on the statute book: what venues and events need to know

The UK’s counter-terrorism “Protect Duty” has been legislated as the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, widely known as Martyn’s Law. It received Royal Assent on 3 April 2025, creating new legal duties for certain premises and events to plan, train, and prepare for terrorist incidents. An implementation window is now underway before requirements take effect.

What the law does

Martyn’s Law introduces proportionate preparedness obligations for publicly accessible locations—places the public can enter by right or permission, paid or free—following lessons from the 2017 Manchester Arena and London Bridge attacks.

The regime uses two tiers tied to capacity—Standard Duty and Enhanced Duty—with corresponding expectations around notification, staff training, and public-protection procedures. Detailed overviews and duty checklists are published by ProtectUK and the Home Office.

Who regulates it

The Security Industry Authority (SIA) has been confirmed as the regulator and will oversee proportionate, risk-based compliance.

Timelines

You do not need to comply immediately. Government guidance indicates an implementation period of at least 24 months after Royal Assent to stand up the regulator and allow organisations time to prepare. Statutory guidance will be issued during this window.

What to do now

Identify if you’re in scope (premises/events open to the public over the relevant capacity thresholds).
Nominate a responsible person and start a gap analysis against Standard or Enhanced duties.
Plan staff training and exercises, and document public-protection procedures suitable for your site.
Engage early with local partners (police/SAG/local authority) and track updates to official guidance as commencement dates are set.

How Event Support Team can help

We support venues and organisers with proportionate HVM design, multi-agency liaison, training/exercising, and operational technologies (CCTV, ANPR, checkpoints), aligned to Home Office/ProtectUK guidance for your duty tier.