House of Commons Amendments

House of Commons

Session 2007 - 08
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

Public Bill Committee: 6th May 2008
168

Counter-Terrorism Bill, continued

“108A
Supply of full register etc to the security services

(1)
This regulation applies to—

(a)
the Security Service;

(b)
the Government Communications Headquarters;

(c)
the Secret Intelligence Service.

(2)
For the purposes of regulation 102(1) above the relevant part of the

documents listed in that provision is the whole of them.”.

      (5)
In regulation 109 (supply of full register etc to police force and other agencies

and restrictions on use), omit—

(a)
paragraph (1)(g) to (i);

(b)
in paragraph (4)(a), the words preceding paragraph (i);

(c)
paragraph (4)(b) and the word “and” immediately preceding it.

      (6)
In regulation 113 (sale of full register to government departments and other

bodies)—

(a)
in the closing words of paragraph (1), after “other than” insert “a

department to which regulation 108A applies or”;

(b)
in paragraph (3) for “regulation 109(1)(g) to (i),” substitute

“regulation 108A”.

      (7)
In regulation 115(2) (offences) omit “45E(3),”.

      (8)
For regulation 118(8) (provision of copies of documents open to public

inspection) substitute insert—

“(8)
The relevant registration officer shall, on request, supply free of

charge copies of any documents open to public inspection—

(a)
to each of the departments mentioned in regulation 108A;

(b)
to a person who has inspected those documents and who is

entitled to be supplied with a copy of the marked register or

lists by virtue of being a person to whom regulation 109

applies.”.

      (9)
In regulation 119(3) for “regulation 118(8)” substitute “regulation 118(8)(b)”.

Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 2001 (S.I. 2001/497)

3    (1)
The Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 2001 are amended as

follows.

      (2)
In regulation 45D (supply of record of anonymous entries to the security

services), omit paragraphs (3) and (4).

      (3)
In regulation 101(6) (supply of full register: general restrictions on use), for

“regulations 102 to 108” substitute “regulations 102 to 107 or 108”.

      (4)
After regulation 107 insert—

“107A
Supply of full register etc to the security services

(1)
This regulation applies to—

(a)
the Security Service;

(b)
the Government Communications Headquarters;

(c)
the Secret Intelligence Service.

(2)
For the purposes of regulation 101(1) above the relevant part of the

documents listed in that provision is the whole of them.”.

      (5)
In regulation 108 (supply of full register etc to police force and other agencies

and restrictions on use), omit—

Public Bill Committee: 6th May 2008
169

Counter-Terrorism Bill, continued

(a)
paragraph (1)(g) to (i);

(b)
in paragraph (4)(a), the words preceding paragraph (i);

(c)
paragraph (4)(b) and the word “and” immediately preceding it.

      (6)
In regulation 112 (sale of full register to government departments and other

bodies)—

(a)
in the closing words of paragraph (1), after “other than” insert “a

department to which regulation 107A applies or”;

(b)
in paragraph (3) for “regulation 108(1)(g) to (i),” substitute

“regulation 107A”.

      (7)
In regulation 115(2) (offences) omit “45D(3),”.

      (8)
For regulation 118(8) (provision of copies of documents open to public

inspection) substitute insert—

“(8)
The relevant registration officer shall, on request, supply free of

charge copies of any documents open to public inspection—

(a)
to each of the departments mentioned in regulation 107A;

(b)
to a person who has inspected those documents and who is

entitled to be supplied with a copy of the marked register or

lists by virtue of being a person to whom regulation 108

applies.”.

      (9)
In regulation 119(3) for “regulation 118(8)” substitute “regulation 118(8)(b)”.

Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 (c. 13)

4
In the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, omit section 38

(disclosure of information for security purposes).

Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (c.18)

5
In the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, omit—

(a)
section 39(4)(g) (permitted disclosure of personal information:

disclosure to an Intelligence Service); and

(b)
in section 67 (general interpretation), the definition of “Intelligence

Service”.’.

Mr Tony McNulty

NS3

To move the following Schedule:—

‘Offences relating to information about members of armed forces:

supplementary provisions


The following Schedule is inserted after Schedule 8 to the Terrorism Act 2000

(c. 11)—

Public Bill Committee: 6th May 2008
170

Counter-Terrorism Bill, continued

“Schedule 8A

Offence under section 58A: supplementary provisions

Introduction

1    (1)
This Schedule makes supplementary provision relating to the

offence in section 58A (eliciting, publishing or communicating

information about members of the armed forces).

      (2)
The purpose of this Schedule is to comply with 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 (“the E-Commerce

Directive”).

Domestic service providers: extension of liability

2    (1)
This paragraph applies where a service provider is established in the

United Kingdom (a “domestic service provider”).

      (2)
Section 58A applies to a domestic service provider who—

(a)
commits any of the acts specified in subsection (1) of that

section in an EEA state other than the United Kingdom, and

(b)
does so in the course of providing information society

services,


as it applies to a person who commits such an act in the United

Kingdom.

      (3)
In such a case—

(a)
proceedings for the offence may be taken at any place in the

United Kingdom, and

(b)
the offence may for all incidental purposes be treated as

having been committed at any such place.

Non-UK service providers: restriction on proceedings

3    (1)
This paragraph applies where a service provider is established in an

EEA state other than the United Kingdom (a “non-UK service

provider”).

      (2)
Proceedings for an offence under section 58A must not be brought

against a non-UK service provider in respect of anything done in

the course of the provision of information society services unless

the following conditions are met.

      (3)
The conditions are—

(a)
that the bringing of proceedings is necessary for one of the

following reasons—

(i)
public policy,

(ii)
public security, including the safeguarding of

national security and defence;

(b)
that the proceedings are brought against an information

society service that prejudices the objectives referred to in

paragraph (a) or presents a serious and grave risk of

prejudice to those objectives;

Public Bill Committee: 6th May 2008
171

Counter-Terrorism Bill, continued

(c)
that the bringing of the proceedings is proportionate to

those objectives.

Exceptions for mere conduits

4    (1)
A service provider is not guilty of an offence under section 58A in

respect of anything done in the course of providing so much of an

information society service as consists in—

(a)
the provision of access to a communication network, or

(b)
the transmission in a communication network of

information provided by a recipient of the service,


if the following condition is satisfied.

      (2)
The condition is that the service provider does not—

(a)
initiate the transmission,

(b)
select the recipient of the transmission, or

(c)
select or modify the information contained in the

transmission.

      (3)
For the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)—

(a)
the provision of access to a communication network, and

(b)
the transmission of information in a communication

network,


includes the automatic, intermediate and transient storage of the

information transmitted so far as the storage is solely for the

purpose of carrying out the transmission in the network.

      (4)
Sub-paragraph (3) does not apply if the information is stored for

longer than is reasonably necessary for the transmission.

Exception for caching

5    (1)
This paragraph applies where an information society service

consists in the transmission in a communication network of

information provided by a recipient of the service.

      (2)
The service provider is not guilty of an offence under section 58A

in respect of the automatic, intermediate and temporary storage of

information so provided, if—

(a)
the storage of the information is solely for the purpose of

making more efficient the onward transmission of the

information to other recipients of the service at their

request, and

(b)
the following conditions are satisfied.

      (3)
The first condition is that the service provider does not modify the

information.

      (4)
The second condition is that the service provider complies with any

conditions attached to having access to the information.

      (5)
The third condition is that if the service provider obtains actual

knowledge that—

(a)
the information at the initial source of the transmission has

been removed from the network,

(b)
access to it has been disabled, or

Public Bill Committee: 6th May 2008
172

Counter-Terrorism Bill, continued

(c)
a court or administrative authority has ordered the removal

from the network of, or the disablement of access to, the

information.


the service provider expeditiously removes the information or

disables access to it.

Exception for hosting

6    (1)
A service provider is not guilty of an offence under section 58A in

respect of anything done in the course of providing so much of an

information society service as consists in the storage of information

provided by a recipient of the service, if the condition is met.

      (2)
The condition is that—

(a)
the service provider had no actual knowledge when the

information was provided that it contained offending

material, or

(b)
on obtaining actual knowledge that the information

contained offending material, the service provider

expeditiously removed the information or disabled access

to it.

      (3)
“Offending material” means information about a person who is or

has been a member of Her Majesty’s Forces which is of a kind

likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of

terrorism.

      (4)
This paragraph does not apply if the recipient of the service is acting

under the authority or control of the service provider.

Interpretation

7    (1)
In this Schedule—

“information society services”—

(a)
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

the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998

laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the

field of technical standards and regulations), and

(b)
is summarised in recital 17 of the E-Commerce Directive as

covering “any service normally provided for remuneration, at a

distance, by means of electronic equipment for the processing

(including digital compression) and storage of data, and at the

individual request of a recipient of a service”;

“recipient”, in relation to a service, means any person who, for

professional ends or otherwise, uses an information society service,

in particular for the purposes of seeking information or making it

accessible;

“service provider” means a person providing an information society

service.

      (2)
For the purposes of this Schedule whether a service provider is

established in the United Kingdom, or in some other EEA state,

shall be determined in accordance with the following provisions—

(a)
a service provider is established in the United Kingdom, or

in a particular EEA state, if the service provider—

Public Bill Committee: 6th May 2008
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Counter-Terrorism Bill, continued

(i)
effectively pursues an economic activity using a

fixed establishment in the United Kingdom, or that

EEA state, for an indefinite period, and

(ii)
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 at the centre of the service provider’s

activities relating to that service.”.’.

Tom Brake

Mr David Heath

Mr Elfyn Llwyd

NS1

To move the following Schedule:—

‘Intercept evidence

Admissibility of intercept and metering evidence

1    (1)
Notwithstanding section 17 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act

2000 (c. 23) (“RIPA”), evidence of—

(a)
the contents of an intercepted communication (“intercept evidence”),

and

(b)
communications data (“metering evidence”),


shall be admissible in criminal proceedings to which this paragraph applies.

      (2)
This paragraph applies to—

(a)
proceedings in respect of serious crime, and

(b)
proceedings in respect of an offence or offences relating to terrorism.

      (3)
An application for permission to introduce intercept evidence or metering

evidence, or both, may be made by the prosecution for the purpose of

conducting a criminal prosecution to which this paragraph applies, and not

otherwise.

      (4)
Unless and until an application has been made by the prosecution in any such

proceedings the provisions of section 17 of RIPA (exclusion of matters from

legal proceedings) shall continue to apply in connection with those

proceedings.

Public Bill Committee: 6th May 2008
174

Counter-Terrorism Bill, continued

Considerations for allowing intercept or metering evidence

2
In deciding whether to admit intercept or metering evidence the court shall take

account of all relevant considerations, including in particular—

(a)
any application by the Secretary of State to withhold the evidence or

part of the evidence on the ground that its disclosure, or the disclosure

of facts relating to the obtaining of the evidence, would be contrary to

the public interest, and

(b)
any submission that the evidence was obtained unlawfully.

Interpretation

3
In this Schedule—

“communications data” has the same meaning as in section 21(4) of RIPA;

“intercepted communication” has the same meaning as in section 4 of

RIPA;

“RIPA” means the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (c. 23);

“serious crime” has the same meaning as in section 81(2)(b) of RIPA;

“terrorism” has the same meaning as in the Terrorism Act 2000 (c. 11).

Minor and consequential amendments

4
In section 5(3)(b) of RIPA, for the words “or detecting” substitute “, detecting

or prosecuting”.’.

Order of the House [1st April 2008]

That the following provisions shall apply to the Counter-Terrorism Bill:

Committal

1.
The Bill shall be committed to a Public Bill Committee.

Proceedings in Public Bill Committee

2.
Proceedings in the Public Bill Committee shall (so far as not previously

concluded) be brought to a conclusion on 15th May 2008.

3.
The Public Bill Committee shall have leave to sit twice on the first day on

which it meets.

Consideration and Third Reading

4.
Proceedings on consideration and Third Reading shall be completed in two

days.

5.
Proceedings on consideration (so far as not previously concluded) shall be

brought to a conclusion one hour before the moment of interruption on the

second day.

6.
Proceeedings on Third Reading shall (so far as not previously concluded) be

brought to a conclusion at the moment of interruption on that day.

7.
Standing Order No. 83B (Programming committees) shall not apply to

proceedings on consideration and Third Reading.