Do I have to comply with Martyn's Law now?

No. There is no legal requirement to comply until the law comes into force. The Home Office and the SIA both encourage premises and events in scope to start preparing now.

When can I notify the SIA?

Not until Martyn's Law comes into force. The SIA's online notification portal will open then. Qualifying premises will have 3 months from commencement to notify, and must report changes within 28 days after that. For qualifying events, the responsible person will usually need to notify within 14 days of the event date being made public.

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When does Martyn’s Law come into effect?

Q: When does Martyn's Law come into effect?

Martyn's Law (the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025) is expected to come into force in spring 2027. The exact date will be set by statutory instruments from the Home Office and Parliament, and the SIA will announce it beforehand. The Home Office statutory guidance says the implementation period is at least 24 months from Royal Assent on 3 April 2025, so it cannot start before 3 April 2027.

Martyn’s Law is expected to come into force in spring 2027, and it can’t start before 3 April 2027. The exact date hasn’t been set yet. Here is the timeline so far, what still has to happen, and what to do before it starts.

Based on the Home Office section 27 statutory guidance and the SIA’s updates on GOV.UK, last checked 28 October 2026 · General information, not legal or security advice

Spring 2027expected start, date to be confirmed

3 Apr 2027the earliest it can start: 24 months after Royal Assent

3 monthsto notify the SIA once it starts (premises)

The short answer

The SIA, which will regulate the law, says it is expected to go live in spring 2027.
The Home Office statutory guidance says the implementation period is at least 24 months from Royal Assent (3 April 2025), so the earliest possible start is 3 April 2027.
The exact date will be set by statutory instruments from the Home Office and Parliament. Until then there is no legal duty to comply, and you can’t notify the SIA yet.

The timeline so far

Date	What happened
3 April 2025	The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 received Royal Assent and became law, with an implementation period of at least 24 months.
15 April 2026	The Home Office statutory guidance (the section 27 guidance) was presented to Parliament, with supplementary documents on counting people and on scope.
April to June 2026	The SIA consulted on its section 12 guidance, which explains how it will use its investigation and enforcement powers. The consultation closed on 12 June 2026.
Summer 2026	The SIA ran its first pilot inspections, began recruiting inspectors and started building its online notification portal, with volunteers testing early versions.
July 2026	The Home Office published guidance on the notification requirement.
September 2026	The Home Office added guidance on the principal use of premises with more than one use.
Spring 2027 (expected)	The law comes into force on dates set by statutory instruments. The notification portal opens.

What still has to happen

Statutory instruments to bring the Act into force and set out the details of notification. The SIA says these will decide the exact dates.
The SIA’s final section 12 guidance, after the consultation.
Practical guidance on notifying: how to use the portal and what documents to provide, which the SIA says will follow once the system and the statutory instruments are ready.
Optional, indicative templates, which the statutory guidance says will be developed for the procedures document.

What happens when it starts

Premises in scope will have 3 months from the start date to notify the SIA, and must report changes within 28 days after that.
Qualifying events will usually need to notify within 14 days of the event date being made public.
Standard tier premises (200 to 799 people, and all places of worship, schools and childcare settings with 200 or more) must have their four public protection procedures in place so far as reasonably practicable: evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication.
The SIA will be able to inspect and use its enforcement powers. For standard tier premises, penalties go up to £10,000, plus up to £500 a day for continued non-compliance.

Our main guide explains who is in scope and what the standard tier must do. For churches, mosques and other faith buildings, see Martyn’s Law for places of worship.

What to do before it starts

Check if you’re in scope: work out the most people you can reasonably expect at the same time, including staff and volunteers, and write down how you got the figure. Our guide on counting attendance shows how.
Agree who the responsible person is, especially in shared or committee-run buildings.
Draft the four procedures and check they fit your fire plan. See why your fire plan isn’t enough.
Brief your staff and volunteers on their roles. The free ACT Awareness e-learning on ProtectUK is a good start.
Gather what the SIA will ask for, so you can notify as soon as the portal opens.
Sign up for SIA updates on GOV.UK to hear the confirmed date as soon as it’s announced.

Martyn's Law Pack: dashboard, scope tab and procedures plan

Template that helps

Our Martyn’s Law Pack gets you ready before the start date: a 10-tab Excel and Google Sheets workbook with the scope and tier check, an SIA notification checklist with deadlines, the four procedures, staff awareness and exercises, plus a Procedures Plan, Staff Briefing with sign-off, Action Card and SIA Notification Checklist in Word and PDF.

See the template on Etsy

Official sources

General information, not legal or security advice. The start date is not yet confirmed — we’ll update this page when it is. Last checked 28 October 2026.