Amendments proposed to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill - continued House of Commons

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Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr Oliver Heald
Mr Peter Luff

52

Clause     73,     page     76,     line     43,     after 'section', insert 'and section 12'.

   

Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr Oliver Heald
Mr Peter Luff

53

Clause     73,     page     76,     line     45,     at end insert—

    '( ) Section 12 of this Act shall come into force on such day as the Secretary of State may by order appoint, save that he shall not appoint such a day unless he has made a statement to the House of Commons to the effect:

      (a) that such obligations as it appears to him reasonable to impose for the purpose of section 12(1) of this Act would be—

          (i) technically competent for the purpose; and

          (ii) proportionate thereto; and

      (b) that he has assessed the costs of compliance and—

          (i) that they are reasonable and

          (ii) that he shall make a contribution thereto;

    and he shall specify the amount of that contribution.'.


NEW CLAUSES

Offences

   

Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr Oliver Heald
Mr Peter Luff

NC1

To move the following Clause:—

    '.—(1) A person is guilty of an offence if—

      (a) with intent to impede access to protected information or the putting of that information into an intelligible form, he fails to comply, in accordance with any section 46 notice, with a requirement of that notice to disclose a key to protected information; and

      (b) he is a person who has possession of the key.

    (2) A person is guilty of an offence if—

      (a) he fails to comply, in accordance with any section 46 notice, with a requirement of that notice to disclose a key to protected information;

      (b) he is a person who has had possession of the key, but that key was not in his possession after the giving of the notice and before the time by which he was required to disclose it; and

      (c) with intent to impede access to protected information or the putting of that information into an intelligible form, that he did not, before that time, make a disclosure, to the person to whom he was required to disclose the key, of all such information in his possession as was required by that person to enable possession of the key to be obtained.

    (3) In proceedings against any person for an offence under this section it shall be a defence (subject to subsection (4)) for that person to show—

      (a) that it was not reasonably practicable for him to make a disclosure of the key before the time by which he was required to do so;

      (b) where the key was not in his possession at that time, that it was not reasonably practicable for him, before that time, to make such a disclosure as is mentioned in subsection (2)(c); and

      (c) that as soon after that time as it was reasonably practicable for him to make a disclosure of the key or (if earlier) of sufficient information to enable possession of the key to be obtained, he made such a disclosure to the person to whom he was required to disclose the key.

    (4) Except in a case where there is no authorisation for the purposes of section 47, in proceedings for an offence under this section a person shall have a defence under subsection (3) only if he also shows that it was not reasonably practicable for him to comply with the requirement in the manner allowed by that section.

    (5) In proceedings against any person for an offence under this section it shall be a defence for that person to show that—

      (a) at all material times he used due diligence to store the key which he had or had had in his possession; and

      (b) that where the key was not in his possession after the giving of the notice and before the time by which he was required to disclose it, that he did before that time, make a disclosure to the person to whom he was required to disclose the key, of all such information to his possession as was required by that person to enable possession of the key to be obtained.

    (6) Where a person is being proceeded against for an offence under this section, then at any stage of the proceedings, if evidence has been given of his having failed to comply with any requirement of a section 46 notice to disclose a key to protected information, the following evidence shall be admissible for the purpose of proving that he had an intention to impede access to protected information or the putting of that information into an intelligible form:—

      (a) evidence that he has or has had in his possession other information of value on grounds falling within section 46(3) or likely to be of value for purposes connected with the exercise or performance by any pubilc authority of any statutory power or statutory duty; and

      (b) provided that seven days notice in writing has been given to him of the intention to prove the conviction, evidence that he has within the [five] years preceding the date of the offence charged been convicted of any offence carrying a maximum sentence on conviction on indictment of five years imprisonment or more.

    (7) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—

      (a) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years or to a fine, or to both;

      (b) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both.'.


Technical Approval Board
   

Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr Oliver Heald
Mr Peter Luff

NC2

To move the following Clause:—

    'The Secretary of State shall appoint to a Technical Approval Board—

      (a) six representatives of persons appearing to him to be likely to be subject to technical obligations under this Act; and

      (b) such persons with statutory functions in relation to persons falling within paragraph (a).'.


Provision of alternative key

   

Miss Ann Widdecombe
Mr Oliver Heald
Mr Peter Luff

NC3

To move the following Clause:—

    '.—(1) Subsection (2) applies where a person is required by a section 46 notice to disclose a key to any protected information.

    (2) The person required to disclose the key shall be taken for the purposes of this part to have complied with the requirement to disclose the key if, by the time by which he is required to disclose it to any person, he has instead provided another key which is capable of putting in an intelligible form the protected information.'.


 
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