House of Commons Amendments

House of Commons

Session 2006 - 07
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

Public Bill Committee: 5th July 2007
179

Serious Crime Bill [Lords], continued

(a)
a person (“D”) is charged in respect of the same act both with an

offence under section 41 and with the common law offence of inciting

the commission of another offence;

(b)
the only thing preventing D from being found guilty of the offence

under section 41 is the fact that it has not been proved beyond

reasonable doubt that the time when the act took place was after the

coming into force of that section; and

(c)
the only thing preventing D from being found guilty of the common

law offence is that it has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt that

that time was before the coming into force of section 55.

      (2)
For the purpose of determining D’s guilt it shall be conclusively presumed that

the time when the act took place was before the coming into force of section

41.’.

Mr Vernon Coaker

192

Schedule  15,  page  122,  line  33,  column 2, at end insert—

‘In section 51(1A), the words “, subject to section

33(1A) of this Act,”.’.

Mr Vernon Coaker

193

Schedule  15,  page  127,  line  38,  column 2, at end insert—

‘Section 376.’.

Mr Vernon Coaker

194

Clause  83,  page  44,  line  27,  after ‘(2);’, insert—

‘( )
section (Powers of management receivers and enforcement receivers)(1)

and (2);’.

Mr Vernon Coaker

201

Clause  83,  page  44,  line  32,  leave out ‘29’ and insert ‘(Powers to wind up:

supplementary)’.

Mr Vernon Coaker

195

Clause  83,  page  45,  line  6,  after ‘(4);’, insert—

‘( )
section (Powers of management receivers and enforcement receivers)(3)

and (4);’.

Public Bill Committee: 5th July 2007
180

Serious Crime Bill [Lords], continued

Mr Vernon Coaker

196

Clause  85,  page  45,  line  41,  leave out subsection (2).

new clauses

Institution of proceedings for an offence under this Part

Maria Eagle

NC8

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
Any provision to which this section applies has effect with respect to an offence

under this Part as it has effect with respect to the anticipated offence.

(2)
This section applies to provisions made by or under an enactment (whenever

passed or made) that—

(a)
provide that proceedings may not be instituted or carried on otherwise

than by, or on behalf or with the consent of, any person (including any

provision which also makes exceptions to the prohibition);

(b)
confer power to institute proceedings;

(c)
confer power to seize and detain property;

(d)
confer a power of forfeiture, including any power to deal with anything

liable to be forfeited.

(3)
In relation to an offence under section 43—

(a)
the reference in subsection (1) to the anticipated offence is to be read as

a reference to any offence specified in the indictment; and

(b)
each of the offences specified in the indictment must be an offence in

respect of which the prosecutor has power to institute proceedings.

(4)
Any consent to proceedings required as a result of this section is in addition to

any consent required by section 50.’.

No individual liability in respect of corporate manslaughter

Maria Eagle

NC9

To move the following Clause:—

‘In section 18 of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007

(c. 00) (no individual liability for offences under that Act) after subsection (1)

insert—

Public Bill Committee: 5th July 2007
181

Serious Crime Bill [Lords], continued

“(1A)
An individual cannot be guilty of an offence under Part 2 of the Serious

Crime Act 2007 (encouraging or assisting crime) by reference to an

offence of corporate manslaughter.”’.

Code of practice for disclosure of information to prevent fraud

Mr Vernon Coaker

nc11

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
The Secretary of State must prepare, and keep under review, a code of practice

with respect to the disclosure, for the purposes of preventing fraud or a particular

kind of fraud, of information by public authorities as members of specified anti-

fraud organisations or otherwise in accordance with any arrangements made by

such organisations.

(2)
Before preparing or altering the code, the Secretary of State must consult—

(a)
any specified anti-fraud organisation;

(b)
the Information Commissioner; and

(c)
such other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(3)
A public authority must have regard to the code in (or in connection with)

disclosing information, for the purposes of preventing fraud or a particular kind

of fraud, as a member of a specified anti-fraud organisation or otherwise in

accordance with any arrangements made by such an organisation.

(4)
Nothing in this section applies in relation to any disclosure by a relevant public

authority of information whose subject-matter is a matter about which provision

would be within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament if it were

included in an Act of the Scottish Parliament.

(5)
The Secretary of State must—

(a)
lay a copy of the code, and of any alterations to it, before Parliament; and

(b)
from time to time publish the code as for the time being in force.

(6)
In this section—

“information” and “public authority” have the same meaning as in section

63;

“relevant public authority” has the meaning given by section 63(6); and

“specified anti-fraud organisation” means any person which is a specified

anti-fraud organisation for the purposes of section 63.’.

Powers of management receivers and enforcement receivers

Mr Vernon Coaker

nc13

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
After section 49(8) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (c. 29) (opportunity for

persons to make representations before powers conferred on management

Public Bill Committee: 5th July 2007
182

Serious Crime Bill [Lords], continued

receivers to manage or otherwise deal with property: England and Wales)

insert—

“(8A)
Subsection (8), so far as relating to the power mentioned in subsection

(2)(b), does not apply to property which—

(a)
is perishable; or

(b)
ought to be disposed of before its value diminishes.”

(2)
After section 51(8) of that Act (opportunity for persons to make representations

before powers conferred on enforcement receivers to manage or otherwise deal

with property: England and Wales) insert—

“(8A)
Subsection (8), so far as relating to the power mentioned in subsection

(2)(b), does not apply to property which—

(a)
is perishable; or

(b)
ought to be disposed of before its value diminishes.”

(3)
After section 197(8) of that Act (opportunity for persons to make representations

before powers conferred on management receivers to manage or otherwise deal

with property: Northern Ireland) insert—

“(8A)
Subsection (8), so far as relating to the power mentioned in subsection

(2)(b), does not apply to property which—

(a)
is perishable; or

(b)
ought to be disposed of before its value diminishes.”

(4)
After section 199(8) of that Act (opportunity for persons to make representations

before powers conferred on enforcement receivers to manage or otherwise deal

with property: Northern Ireland) insert—

“(8A)
Subsection (8), so far as relating to the power mentioned in subsection

(2)(b), does not apply to property which—

(a)
is perishable; or

(b)
ought to be disposed of before its value diminishes.”’.

Disclosure of information by Revenue and Customs

Mr Vernon Coaker

nc14

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
This section applies to information held as mentioned in section 18(1) of the

Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 (c. 11) (confidentiality).

(2)
Information to which this section applies may be disclosed by or with the

authority of the Commissioners of Revenue and Customs—

(a)
to the Criminal Assets Bureau in Ireland (“the CAB”) for the purpose of

enabling or assisting the CAB to exercise any of its functions in

connection with any matter within subsection (3); or

(b)
to any specified public authority (in the United Kingdom or elsewhere)—

(i)
for the purpose of enabling or assisting the public authority to

exercise any of its functions in connection with any matter within

subsection (3); or

Public Bill Committee: 5th July 2007
183

Serious Crime Bill [Lords], continued

(ii)
(if the specifying order so provides) for the purpose of enabling

or assisting the public authority to exercise any of its functions

in connection with any matter within that subsection that is

specified, or of a description specified, in the order.

(3)
The matters within this subsection are—

(a)
the identification of proceeds of crime;

(b)
the bringing of civil proceedings for enforcement purposes in relation to

proceeds of crime; and

(c)
the taking of other action in relation to proceeds of crime.

(4)
Information disclosed in accordance with subsection (2) must not be further

disclosed except—

(a)
in connection with the exercise of any of the functions of the CAB or a

specified public authority in connection with any matter within

subsection (3) (or, in a subsection (2)(b)(ii) case, any such matter as is

mentioned there); and

(b)
with the consent of the Commissioners of Revenue and Customs or an

authorised officer of the Commissioners of Revenue and Customs.

(5)
For the purposes of this section any consent or authorisation may be general or

specific.

(6)
If a person in the United Kingdom discloses, in contravention of subsection (4),

any revenue and customs information relating to a person whose identity—

(a)
is specified in the disclosure; or

(b)
can be deduced from it;


section 19 of the 2005 Act (wrongful disclosure) applies in relation to that

disclosure as it applies in relation to a disclosure of such information in

contravention of section 20(9) of that Act.

(7)
Any reference in this section to a disclosure to the CAB or a specified public

authority is a reference to a disclosure to such person, or to persons of such

description, as may be specified in relation to the CAB or the public authority (as

the case may be).

(8)
Nothing in this section authorises any disclosure of information which—

(a)
contravenes the Data Protection Act 1998 (c. 29); or

(b)
is prohibited by Part 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act

2000 (c. 23).

(9)
In this section—

“the 2005 Act” means the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act

2005 (c. 11);

“assets” means property of any description, wherever situated;

“civil proceedings” means civil proceedings of whatever nature and

whether brought in the United Kingdom or elsewhere;

“Commissioners of Revenue and Customs” means the Commissioners for

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs;

“enforcement purposes”, in relation to the proceeds of crime, means with a

view to—

(a)
recovering, forfeiting or freezing assets constituting proceeds of

crime; or

(b)
otherwise depriving persons (to any extent) of, or of access to,

such assets or the benefit of such assets;

“functions” includes powers, duties and objectives, and references to the

exercise of functions include the pursuit of objectives;

“proceeds of crime” means assets derived, or suspected to be derived,

directly or indirectly from criminal conduct (wherever occurring);

Public Bill Committee: 5th July 2007
184

Serious Crime Bill [Lords], continued

“public authority” means any body or person discharging functions of a

public nature;

“revenue and customs information relating to a person” has the meaning

given by section 19(2) of the 2005 Act;

“specified” means specified in an order made by the Treasury; and

“the specifying order”, in relation to a specified public authority, means the

order specifying the authority for the purposes of this section.’.

Powers to wind up: supplementary

Mr Vernon Coaker

NC15

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
The Secretary of State may by order make such modifications as he considers

appropriate to the application of—

(a)
the Insolvency Act 1986 (c. 45) by virtue of section 28(2); or

(b)
the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (S.I. 1989/2405 (N.I.19))

by virtue of section 29(2).

(2)
Any modifications made by virtue of subsection (1) are in addition to the

modifications made by section 28(3) and (4) or (as the case may be) section 29(3)

and (4).

(3)
The Secretary of State may by order make such consequential or supplementary

provision, applying with or without modifications any provision made by or

under an enactment, as he considers appropriate in connection with section 28(2)

to (4) or 29(2) to (4).

(4)
An order made by virtue of section 28(5) or (6), section 29(5) or (6) or subsection

(1) above may, in particular, contain consequential or supplementary provision

applying, with or without modifications, any provision made by or under an

enactment.’.

Providers of information society services

Mr Vernon Coaker

NC16

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
A serious crime prevention order may not include terms which restrict the

freedom of a service provider who is established in an EEA state other than the

United Kingdom to provide information society services in relation to an EEA

state unless the conditions in subsections (2) and (3) are met.

(2)
The condition in this subsection is that the court concerned considers that the

terms—

(a)
are necessary for the objective of protecting the public by preventing,

restricting or disrupting involvement in—

Public Bill Committee: 5th July 2007
185

Serious Crime Bill [Lords], continued

(i)
in the case of an order in England and Wales, serious crime in

England and Wales; and

(ii)
in the case of an order in Northern Ireland, serious crime in

Northern Ireland;

(b)
relate to an information society service which prejudices that objective or

presents a serious and grave risk of prejudice to it; and

(c)
are proportionate to that objective.

(3)
The conditions in this subsection are that—

(a)
a law enforcement officer has requested the EEA state in which the

service provider is established to take measures which the law

enforcement officer considers to be of equivalent effect under the law of

the EEA state to the terms and the EEA state has failed to take the

measures; and

(b)
a law enforcement officer has notified the Commission of the European

Communities and the EEA state of—

(i)
the intention to seek an order containing the terms; and

(ii)
the terms.

(4)
It does not matter for the purposes of subsection (3) whether the request or

notification is made before or after the making of the application for the order.

(5)
A serious crime prevention order may not include terms which impose liabilities

on service providers of intermediary services so far as the imposition of those

liabilities would result in a contravention of Article 12, 13 or 14 of the E-

Commerce Directive (various protections for service providers of intermediary

services).

(6)
A serious crime prevention order may not include terms which impose a general

obligation on service providers of intermediary services covered by Articles 12,

13 and 14 of the E-Commerce Directive—

(a)
to monitor the information which they transmit or store when providing

those services; or

(b)
actively to seek facts or circumstances indicating illegal activity when

providing those services.

(7)
For the purposes of this section—

(a)
a service provider is established in a particular EEA state if he effectively

pursues an economic activity using a fixed establishment in that EEA

state for an indefinite period and he is a national of an EEA state or a

company or firm mentioned in Article 48 of the EEC Treaty;

(b)
the presence or use in a particular place of equipment or other technical

means of providing an information society service does not, of itself,

constitute the establishment of a service provider;

(c)
where it cannot be determined from which of a number of establishments

a given information society service is provided, that service is to be

regarded as provided from the establishment where the service provider

has the centre of his activities relating to the service;


and references to a person being established in an EEA state are to be read

accordingly.

(8)
In this section—

“the E-Commerce Directive” means Directive 2000/31/EC of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of

information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the

Internal Market (Directive on electronic commerce);

“information society services”—

(c)
has the meaning given in Article 2(a) of the E-Commerce

Directive (which refers to Article 1(2) of Directive 98/34/EC of