House of Commons Amendments

Session 2014 - 15
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

23

House of Commons

Notices of Amendments

given up to and including

Friday 9 January 2015

New Amendments handed in are marked thus

Amendments which will comply with the required notice period at their next appearance

Public Bill Committee

Serious Crime Bill [Lords]

Note

That proceedings shall be taken in the following order: Clauses 1 to 45; Schedule 1;

Clauses 46 to 53; Schedule 2; Clauses 54 to 66; Schedule 3; Clauses 67 to 73; new

Clauses; new Schedules; Clause 74; Schedule 4; Clauses 75 to 78; remaining proceedings

on the Bill.

Jack Dromey

Mr Steve Reed

Seema Malhotra


Clause  2,  page  3,  line  22,  at and insert—

“(4A)
An interested person who is found by the court to have provided incomplete or

false information in a deliberate attempt to mislead the court is guilty of an

offence and is liable on conviction of indictment, to imprisonment for a term not

exceeding 6 months, or to a fine, or to both.”.

Notices of Amendments:
24

, continued

Jack Dromey

Mr Steve Reed

Seema Malhotra


Clause  4,  page  5,  line  5,  at and add—

“(2)
In this section, a “reasonable opportunity” shall be interpreted as no more than a

period of 21 days from the date of notice given by the court arising from the duty

in subsection (8A).”.

Jack Dromey

Mr Steve Reed

Seema Malhotra


Clause  7,  page  7,  line  39,  at and insert—

“(6A)
Where the Supreme Court makes an order under subsection (6)(b) that gives rise

to the award of costs to the appellant, such an award shall be calculated using the

currently applicable legal aid rates.”.

Mr Elfyn Llwyd


Clause  7,  page  7,  line  41,  at end insert—

“13C
Use of assets arising from the proceeds of crime for investigating, prosecuting

or enforcement authorities

Any proceeds of crime in the form of assets arising from the operation of Part 1

of this Act shall be used for the benefit of investigating, prosecuting and

enforcement authorities for reinvestment in the communities and neighbourhoods

affected by the relevant criminal act.”.

Jack Dromey

Mr Steve Reed

Seema Malhotra


Clause  10,  page  10,  line  40,  at end add—

“(3A)
The Secretary of State shall, within 18 months of this Act receiving Royal Assent,

commision a study of—

(a)
the effectiveness and impact of the ending of early release for fine

defaulters owing in excess of £10 million, and

(b)
the potential costs and benefits of extending the policy to those who owe

less.

(3B)
The Secretary of State shall require this study to report within 12 months and shall

lay a copy of any report arising before each House of Parliament.”.

Notices of Amendments:
25

, continued

Mr Elfyn Llwyd


Clause  40,  page  34,  line  40,  at end insert—

“(1A)
For the purposes of subsection (1)(a) an unauthorised act can include installing

spyware software onto a computer, where the owner’s explicit consent has not

been given.”.

Mr Elfyn Llwyd


Clause  40,  page  35,  line  13,  at end insert—

“(g)
harassment or alarm of distress which has a substantial impact on the

victim’s day-to-day activities.”.

Jack Dromey

Mr Steve Reed

Seema Malhotra


Clause  40,  page  35,  line  36,  at and insert—

“(4)
Internet service providers must take all reasonable steps to notify a customer of

an unlawful attempt to compromise his or her internet-connected device.

(5)
In this section “internet service provider” has the same meaning as in section

124N of the Communications Act 2003 (interpretation).”.

Mr Elfyn Llwyd


Clause  50,  page  43,  line  35,  leave out “on the balance of probabilities” and insert

“beyond reasonable doubt”.

Mr Elfyn Llwyd


Clause  50,  page  44,  line  5,  leave out “doing anything described in the injunction”

and insert “engaging in, or encouraging or assisting, gang-related violence or gang-related

drug-dealing activity;”.

Mr Elfyn Llwyd


Clause  50,  page  44,  line  7,  leave out “described in the injunction” and insert

“which will protect the respondent from gang-related violence or gang-related drug

dealing activity”.

Notices of Amendments:
26

, continued

Mr Elfyn Llwyd


Clause  65,  page  53,  line  6,  at end insert—

“( )
In that subsection, for “under that age” substitute “under 18””.

New Clauses

Karen Bradley

NC7


To move the following Clause—


“Exemption from civil liability for money-laundering disclosures

In section 338 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (money laundering: authorised

disclosures), after subsection (4) insert—

“(4A)
Where an authorised disclosure is made in good faith, no civil liability

arises in respect of the disclosure on the part of the person by or on whose

behalf it is made.””

Member’s explanatory statement

This New Clause makes express statutory provision to protect persons (for example, financial

institutions and lawyers) who report in good faith their suspicion that another person is engaged

in money laundering activity (in accordance with Part 7 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002) from

incurring civil liability for doing so.

Karen Bradley

NC8


To move the following Clause—


“Sexual communication with a child

After section 15 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 insert—

“15A
Sexual communication with a child

(1)
A person aged 18 or over (A) commits an offence if—

(a)
for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification, A intentionally

communicates with another person (B),

(b)
the communication is sexual or is intended to encourage B to

make (whether to A or to another) a communication that is

sexual, and

(c)
B is under 16 and A does not reasonably believe that B is 16 or

over.

(2)
For the purposes of this section, a communication is sexual if—

(a)
any part of it relates to sexual activity, or

Notices of Amendments:
27

, continued

(b)
a reasonable person would, in all the circumstances but

regardless of any person’s purpose, consider any part of the

communication to be sexual;


and in paragraph (a) “sexual activity” means an activity that a reasonable

person would, in all the circumstances but regardless of any person’s

purpose, consider to be sexual.

(3)
A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—

(a)
on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not

exceeding 12 months or a fine or both;

(b)
on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not

exceeding 2 years.””

Member’s explanatory statement

This New Clause provides for a new offence where an adult communicates with a child under 16

for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification and the communication is sexual or intended to

encourage a sexual response. The offence would be triable either way with a maximum penalty (on

conviction on indictment) of two years’ imprisonment.

Karen Bradley

NC9


To move the following Clause—


“Controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship

(1)
A person (A) commits an offence if—

(a)
A repeatedly or continuously engages in behaviour towards another

person (B) that is controlling or coercive,

(b)
at the time of the behaviour, A and B are personally connected,

(c)
the behaviour has a serious effect on B, and

(d)
A knows or ought to know that the behaviour will have a serious effect

on B.

(2)
A and B are “personally connected” if—

(a)
A is in an intimate personal relationship with B, or

(b)
A and B live together and—

(i)
they are members of the same family, or

(ii)
they have previously been in an intimate personal relationship

with each other.

(3)
But A does not commit an offence under this section if at the time of the

behaviour in question—

(a)
A has responsibility for B, for the purposes of Part 1 of the Children and

Young Persons Act 1933 (see section 17 of that Act), and

(b)
B is under 16.

(4)
A’s behaviour has a “serious effect” on B if—

(a)
it causes B to fear, on at least two occasions, that violence will be used

against B, or

(b)
it causes B serious alarm or distress which has a substantial adverse effect

on B’s usual day-to-day activities.

(5)
For the purposes of subsection (1)(d) A “ought to know” that which a reasonable

person in possession of the same information would know.

Notices of Amendments:
28

, continued

(6)
For the purposes of subsection (2)(b)(i) A and B are members of the same family

if—

(a)
they are, or have been, married to each other;

(b)
they are, or have been, civil partners of each other;

(c)
they are relatives;

(d)
they have agreed to marry one another (whether or not the agreement has

been terminated);

(e)
they have entered into a civil partnership agreement (whether or not the

agreement has been terminated);

(f)
they are both parents of the same child;

(g)
they have, or have had, parental responsibility for the same child.

(7)
In subsection (6)—

“civil partnership agreement” has the meaning given by section 73 of the

Civil Partnership Act 2004;

“child” means a person under the age of 18 years;

“parental responsibility” has the same meaning as in the Children Act 1989;

“relative” has the meaning given by section 63(1) of the Family Law Act

1996.

(8)
In proceedings for an offence under this section it is a defence for A to show

that—

(a)
in engaging in the behaviour in question, A believed that he or she was

acting in B’s best interests, and

(b)
the behaviour was in all the circumstances reasonable.

(9)
A is to be taken to have shown the facts mentioned in subsection (8) if—

(a)
sufficient evidence of the facts is adduced to raise an issue with respect

to them, and

(b)
the contrary is not proved beyond reasonable doubt.

(10)
The defence in subsection (8) is not available to A in relation to behaviour that

causes B to fear that violence will be used against B.

(11)
A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—

(a)
on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding

five years, or a fine, or both;

(b)
on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12

months, or a fine, or both.”

Member’s explanatory statement

This New Clause provides for a new offence criminalising controlling or coercive behaviour in an

intimate or family relationship. The new offence would be triable either way with a maximum

penalty (on conviction on indictment) of five years’ imprisonment.

Karen Bradley

NC10


To move the following Clause—


“Guidance

(1)
The Secretary of State may issue guidance about the investigation of offences

under section (Controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family

relationship) to whatever persons the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

Notices of Amendments:
29

, continued

(2)
The Secretary of State may revise any guidance issued under this section.

(3)
The Secretary of State must arrange for any guidance issued or revised under this

section to be published.”

Member’s explanatory statement

This New Clause confers a power on the Secretary of State to issue guidance about the

investigation of offences under New Clause (NC9) [Controlling or coercive behaviour in an

intimate or family relationship].

Karen Bradley

NC11


To move the following Clause—


“Prevention or restriction of use of communication devices by prisoners etc

(1)
Regulations may make provision conferring power on a court to make a

telecommunications restriction order.

(2)
“Telecommunications restriction order” means an order requiring a

communications provider to take whatever action the order specifies for the

purpose of preventing or restricting the use of communication devices by persons

detained in custodial institutions.

(3)
Regulations under this section must—

(a)
specify who may apply for telecommunications restriction orders;

(b)
make provision about giving notice of applications;

(c)
make provision conferring rights on persons to make representations;

(d)
specify the matters about which the court must be satisfied if it is to make

an order;

(e)
make provision about the duration of orders (which may include

provision for orders of indefinite duration);

(f)
make provision about variation (including extension) and discharge of

orders;

(g)
make provision about appeals.

(4)
Regulations under this section may—

(a)
make provision for a telecommunications restriction order to specify that

a requirement of the order is not to apply in particular circumstances;

(b)
make provision authorising a court to include in an order a requirement

for the person applying for the order to pay any or all of the costs of

complying with it;

(c)
make provision about time limits for complying with orders;

(d)
make provision about enforcement of orders (which may include

provision creating offences);

(e)
make provision about costs (or, in Scotland, expenses) in respect of legal

proceedings;

(f)
make different provision for different purposes;

(g)
make incidental, consequential, supplementary or transitional provision,

including provision applying any enactment (with or without

modifications).

(5)
The power to make regulations under this section is exercisable—

(a)
in relation to England and Wales, by statutory instrument made by the

Secretary of State;



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