 House of Commons |
Session 2008 - 09 Publications on the internet Public Bill Committee Debates Policing and Crime Bill |
Policing and Crime Bill |
The Committee consisted of the following Members:Chris
Shaw, Andrew Kennon, Committee
Clerks † attended the
Committee Public Bill CommitteeTuesday 24 February 2009(Afternoon)[Sir Nicholas Winterton in the Chair]Policing and Crime BillClause 53Return
from category 1 territory
Amendment
proposed (this day): 253, in clause 53, page 65, line 27, at end
insert ‘save that time
during which the person was outside the United Kingdom shall be
disregarded for the purposes of consideration for parole or early
release in any event.’.—(James
Brokenshire.) 4
pm Question
again proposed, That the amendment be
made.
The
Chairman: I remind the Committee that with this amendment,
we are considering amendment 254, in clause 54, page 66, line 32, at
end
insert ‘save
that time during which the person was outside the United Kingdom shall
be disregarded for the purposes of consideration for parole or early
release in any
event.’. As
my co-Chairman Hugh Bayley no doubt said to the Committee this morning,
may I welcome you back from a short half-term recess? I spent most of
the time in Namibia, which was previously German South-West Africa. It
was a most enjoyable Commonwealth Parliamentary Association visit and I
am reinvigorated to preside over the remaining stages—all except
for one—of this Public Bill Committee. I hope that all members
of the Committee had a very restful and enjoyable recess; I am sure
that Ministers did and I express the same hope for members of the
Opposition
parties. I
gather that the Minister was responding to a debate on amendment 253
and, according to those who advise me, I believe that he was expressing
the hope that the Opposition spokesman might consider withdrawing his
amendment. Therefore, I ask the Minister of State, Vernon Coaker, to
complete his remarks.
The
Minister for Security, Counter-Terrorism, Crime and Policing
(Mr. Vernon Coaker): I have some further
information that may be of benefit to the hon. Members for Oxford, West
and Abingdon (Dr. Harris) and for Hornchurch (James Brokenshire), in
answer to the questions that they put earlier on our debate on
amendment 253.
First, I want
to thank the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon—no doubt,
he will intervene if I do not fully answer the comments that he
made—for highlighting the error in clause 48(6)(a), which refers
to “the
Council Decision on the establishment, operation and use of the second
generation Schengen Information System of 12 December
2006”.
We have looked into the
issue and we will amend subsection 6(a), so that it refers to the
Council Decision on the establishment, operation and use of the second
generation Schengen information system of 12 June 2007. That change can
be made by way of printing, so I am advised by parliamentary counsel
that there is no need for an
amendment. At
the end of the previous sitting, I was responding to the hon. Member
for Hornchurch, who raised a particularly important point that we must
clarify; I thank him again for the helpful points that he made. I was
explaining that, where someone has been extradited to an EU member
state before the end of their UK sentence, clause 53 makes it clear
that time spent in custody overseas will only fall to be deducted from
the relevant UK sentence where the person in question has been
extradited to face trial and has then been acquitted of all
charges. However,
where time falls to be deducted from a UK sentence, as the hon. Member
for Hornchurch rightly pointed out, it is possible for someone who was
extradited at a time when they were serving the custodial period of any
sentence to return to the UK after the date on which they would
ordinarily have been released on licence. The reassurance that I think
the hon. Member for Hornchurch is seeking in tabling this amendment is
that, where this situation arises, a person returning to the UK would
not be automatically released into the community without proper
consideration being given to the terms of their release. I am pleased
to be able to reassure him that that certainly will not be the case.
Proposed new section 59(6)(b), which would be inserted into the
Extradition Act 2003 by clause 53, makes it clear that where a person
who has been extradited while in custody returns to the UK and is
entitled to be released on licence, they
are “liable
to be detained...by a constable or immigration
officer” so
that they can then be formally released.
The purpose
of this limited period of detention is to meet the need that the hon.
Member for Hornchurch has flagged up; that is, to ensure that all the
usual procedures that must be carefully followed before someone is
released on licence are followed where a person who has been extradited
returns to the UK. Crucially, that will allow the authorities to ensure
that the conditions of the licence fit the offender and that all the
relevant bodies charged with dealing with offenders after release are
aware of the situation. While clause 53 would allow someone to be
detained in order for them to be released on licence, detention would
only be for as long as was strictly necessary in order for the person
to be
released. That
was raised by Liberty in the public evidence sessions, and I want to
make it absolutely clear that the purpose of detention here is solely
in order for the person to have their licence imposed or for them to be
released. However, this is an important point and I will consider
whether we need to do something further. Effectively, we are detaining
someone who has come back and who, had they been serving their sentence
in the UK, would already have been released on licence. Clearly,
detaining someone in that situation meets the public policy need of
ensuring that the conditions of a licence are put in place. There is an
issue about making sure that any detention needed to fulfil those
licence conditions is as short as possible. While that is implicit in
the Bill, and I have made it explicit in my remarks in
Committee, the question is whether it should be
explicit in the Bill. I think I need to reflect on that further as the
Bill makes progress. I hope those remarks have helped the hon. Member
for Hornchurch and that he will consider withdrawing his
amendment. James
Brokenshire (Hornchurch) (Con): I thank the Minister for
his helpful response. He has highlighted the application of new section
59(6)(b), and he has made some points which clarify and explain the
intent behind that provision and how it interacts with other
provisions, including the need to consider any public protection issues
and whether a licence is appropriate, and the need to ensure that such
periods of detention are expressly for that purpose.
That is an
important clarification and I am grateful to the Minister for putting
that on the record. Equally, it would be helpful to have some express
clarification for a court or anyone else seeking to interpret the Bill,
and I accept what he said about reflecting on that. We look forward to
seeing what appears on Report. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the
amendment. Amendment,
by leave,
withdrawn.
Mr.
Coaker: I beg to move amendment 224, in
clause 53, page 66, line 6, leave
out ‘or section 28 of the Crime (Sentences) Act
1997’.
Mr.
Coaker: I shall be brief. Essentially, tackling
international and transnational crime is a key priority for all of us.
One consequence of the increasingly transnational nature of modern
crime is that cases may arise in which an individual whose extradition
is requested by one country is, as we have just discussed, serving a
prison sentence or facing criminal proceedings in the country to which
a request for extradition is made. Situations also arise where a
country will only extradite its own national on the express undertaking
of the UK that the person will be returned to serve any sentence
imposed in the UK in the extraditing
country. Clauses
53, 54 and 55 set out an efficient and effective framework for dealing
with cases of this kind. As the Committee will no doubt appreciate, it
is vital that this framework is fully compliant with sentencing
legislation in Scotland and Northern Ireland. To achieve that, these
six amendments introduce two minor changes which are replicated for
each of the three clauses. That will ensure that the provisions are
fully effective in both Scotland and Northern
Ireland. Amendment
224 agreed
to. Amendment
made: 225, in
clause 53, page 66, line 11, at
end insert— ‘(c) a duty to
release the person under section 1, 1AA or 7(1) of the Prisoners and
Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993 or section 5, 11(2), 13, 19 or
23 of the Custodial Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Act 2007,
or (d) a duty to release the
person under section 1 of the Northern Ireland (Remission of
Sentences‘) Act 1995, Article 26 of the Criminal Justice
(Northern Ireland) Order 1996 or Article 17 or 18(8) of the Criminal
Justice (Northern Ireland) Order
2008.’.—(Mr.
Coaker.) Clause
53, as amended, ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
Clause 54Return
from category 2
territory Amendments
made: 226, in
clause 54, page 67, line 8, leave
out ‘or
section 28 of the Crime (Sentences) Act
1997’. Amendment
227, in
clause 54, page 67, line 13, at
end insert— ‘(c) a duty to
release the person under section 1, 1AA or 7(1) of the Prisoners and
Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993 or section 5, 11(2), 13, 19 or
23 of the Custodial Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Act 2007,
or (d) a duty to release the
person under section 1 of the Northern Ireland (Remission of Sentences)
Act 1995, Article 26 of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order
1996 or Article 17 or 18(8) of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland)
Order 2008.’.—(Mr.
Coaker.) Clause
54, as amended, ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
Clause 55Return
to extraditing territory
etc Amendments
made: 228, in
clause 55, page 69, line 3, leave
out ‘or
section 28 of the Crime (Sentences) Act
1997’. Amendment
229, in
clause 55, page 69, line 8, at
end insert— ‘(iii) a duty to
release the person under section 1, 1AA or 7(1) of the Prisoners and
Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993 or section 5, 11(2), 13, 19 or
23 of the Custodial Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Act 2007,
or (iv) a duty to release the
person under section 1 of the Northern Ireland (Remission of Sentences)
Act 1995, Article 26 of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order
1996 or Article 17 or 18(8) of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland)
Order 2008;’.—(Mr.
Coaker.) Dr.
Evan Harris (Oxford, West and Abingdon) (LD): I beg to
move amendment 72, in clause 55, page 70, line 3, leave
out ‘the
Secretary of State is not satisfied that the return is
compatible’ and
insert ‘to
do so would be
incompatible’.
The
Chairman: With this it will be convenient to discuss the
following: amendment 73, in clause 55, page 70, line 5,
after ‘1998’, insert
‘or any other international treaty
which the United Kingdom is a party to or would be contrary to the
interests of
justice.’. Amendment
74, in
clause 55, page 70, line 5, at
end insert— ‘(1A) If
subsection (1)
applies— (a) an
undertaking to return a person to a territory given under section 153A
or 153C, and (b) any power
given under section 153A and 153C by reference to the undertaking are
of no
effect.’.
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