[JURIST] British legal experts and politicians are bracing for a major confrontation between the upper and lower houses of Parliament when the Terrorism Bill [text; Home Office backgrounder] comes before the House of Lords again on February 28 after Wednesday's Commons reinstatement [JURIST report] of a "glorification of terrorism" offense that was first nixed [JURIST report] in the Lords in late January. Members of the Labour Party government of Prime Minister Tony Blair are expressing optimism about their chances on the issue after a series of recent Lords reversals on this and other legislation, but prominent members of the upper chamber insist that they will draw the line. Liberal Democrat peer and legal affairs critic Lord Thomas of Gresford [party profile] told the BBC Thursday:

The purpose of the criminal law is to create a framework within which people can regulate their conduct and know what the penalty will be.

It has to be very well and clearly defined. Now, what on earth does glorification mean and what is the impact of the use of such a word upon the legislation?

Other opponents of the glorification offense argue that existing laws, including a new offense of indirectly encouraging terrorism, make the glorification offense unnecessary. BBC News has more.