Instruments of interest
Draft Electronic Commerce Directive (Education, Adoption and Children) (Amendment etc.) Regulations 2021
42.This instrument disapplies the Country of Origin (CoO) principle, as set out in the Electronic Commerce Directive and as it relates to two specific pieces of legislation: Schedule 11B to the Education Act 2002 (“the 2002 Act”) provides for the prosecution of certain criminal offences which are committed where a person breaches a reporting restriction in respect of a teacher who has been accused of an offence involving a pupil at their school. The Electronic Commerce Directive (Adoption and Children Act 2002) Regulations 2005 (“the 2005 Regulations”) make provision in relation to the breach of restrictions on arranging adoptions or publishing or distributing of adoption-related advertisements.
43.This instrument removes the application of the CoO principle to the enforcement of an offence under the provisions in the 2002 Act and the 2005 Regulations. According to the Department for Education (DfE), this will not revoke any criminal offences either in the UK or across the European Economic Area but instead will affect where Information Society Services (ISS)10 are liable for prosecution if they commit a relevant offence: an offence committed in England and Wales will be prosecuted domestically irrespective of where the relevant ISS is established. If an ISS established in the UK commits the offence in another country, it will be subject to the law of that country.
44.When the instrument was initially laid for sifting under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 in June 2019, we took the view that these issues were likely to be of policy interest to the House and recommended an upgrade to the affirmative procedure. We asked DfE why the instrument was laid before Parliament for regular scrutiny more than a year and a half after sifting. DfE told us that: “In order to ensure all of the critical legislation was in place for the end of the Transition Period, it was necessary to prioritise SIs that needed to be in force immediately on 1 January 2021. SIs with less time pressure have therefore been laid later, as far as possible. [These Regulations] were considered a lower priority.”
Draft Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (Juxtaposed Controls) (Amendment) Order 2021
45.The UK’s Border Force operates juxtaposed immigration controls at the seaports of Calais and Dunkirk in France under the reciprocal Le Touquet Treaty 2003. For the Channel Tunnel, Border Force has juxtaposed controls in Coquelles and in Eurostar terminals in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, under legislation which also allows policing and goods checks on passengers and freight before embarkation. French Border officials have equivalent powers.
46.The purpose of this Order is to harmonise the legislative regimes across all juxtaposed controls, which will also extend the power to use “reasonable force” at the Northern French seaports. The Home Office states that “With thousands of attempts made by persons seeking to enter the UK illegally via the Northern French seaports every year, and with many of these individuals not complying with immigration processes once intercepted, it is necessary to grant Border Force officers at the juxtaposed seaports the power to use reasonable force, where necessary, to enforce compliance with UK immigration controls and to intervene, where strictly necessary, where non-compliant persons present a danger to themselves or others.”
Draft Tax Credits, Child Benefit and Guardian’s Allowance Up-rating Regulations 2021
47.This instrument sets the annual rates of Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit (WTC) and the weekly rate of Child Benefit and Guardian’s Allowance for the 2021/22 tax year, as announced in a Written Ministerial statement on 25 November 2020.11 The rates are increased by 0.5%, in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in September 2020. HM Revenue and Customs emphasises that the increase will be applied to the rate of the WTC basic element as announced in November 2019 (£1,995), so that this annual uprate is separate from the temporary uplift to the WTC basic element by £1,045 a year, equal to up to £20 per week, that was introduced in response to the pandemic. The temporary uplift will expire on 5 April 2021 and is disregarded for the purpose of the annual increase set out in this instrument.
10 ISS cover any service normally provided for remuneration, at a distance, by means of electronic equipment for the processing and storage of data, and at the individual request of a recipient of a service. This includes internet service providers.