Extracts from Committee
stage (Commons) of the Extradition (Provisional Arrest)
Bill
Amendment 16, page 3, leave out lines 22 to 24 and insert—
‘(4) The “designated authority” is the National Crime
Agency.”
This amendment would define the “designated authority” as the
National Crime Agency.
(Rother
Valley) (Con):...The sole aim of the Bill is to enable the arrest
of a suspect wanted by a trusted non-EU country. Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Liechtenstein and
Switzerland are models of good judicial practice and fairness,
but also will be some of our key partners going forward. In
addition, the highly respected National Crime
Agency must be satisfied that a valid request has been
made, that such a warrant or conviction exists and that the
offence is a serious one...
(Strangford) (DUP):...It seems that there are certain
nations that allow us to give but do not reciprocate at the same
level. The National Crime Agency must have
the ability, under the authority of this legislation and the
Secretary of State, to make changes to ensure that if we are at
pains to help others to bring home criminals to be accountable
for their crimes, we get at least the same level of help when it
comes to our own criminals...
(St Helens North) (Lab):...On Government amendments 12
and 16, which define the designated authority as the
National Crime Agency we
recognise that and are pleased to see that the Government have
tabled an amendment to that effect. I have no doubt that this
will give an important sense of clarity and purpose to those
brave men and women working in the National Crime Agency and their
operational partners, whose efforts, let us not forget—right at
this moment, in fact—do a great deal to keep the public safe and
secure. The role of the designated authority is fundamental to
the success of the legislation, given that it will be carrying
out the functions of certifying requests. However, can I ask the
Minister to confirm to the House that powers of redesignation, if
ever necessary, will be open to scrutiny by both Houses of
Parliament, because I think he will appreciate that that is an
important issue for future oversight?
The Minister for Security ():...Government amendment 12 specifies the
National Crime Agency is to be
the designated authority for this legislation. The designated
authority is the agency that will have the task of certifying
that the international arrest alerts conform to the right
criteria for them to carry the new power of provisional arrest.
The drafting is future-proofed, as it allows for the designated
authority to be changed by regulation should the need arise. We
have taken that approach as the direct alternative to using
secondary legislation on this occasion, to ensure the best use of
parliamentary time. The amendment therefore represents a change
of process rather than policy and is reflected by Opposition
amendment 16. I hope that the Opposition will recognise, because
of the future-proofing arrangements, that this is an improvement
to the technical approach they would take...
...Finally, I turn to new clauses 1 and 2. Throughout the
passage of the Bill, there has been considerable cross-party
consensus on its aims and measures, alongside the robust scrutiny
that I have come to rightly expect from this House. New clause 1
would require the publication of an annual statement on arrests.
The National Crime Agency already
keeps data and publishes statistics on arrest volumes in relation
to part 1 of the Extradition Act. It does that without having
been required to do so by primary legislation. We have no doubt
that it will similarly do so in respect of arrests under this new
arrest power, as this is sensible operational practice. While I
have some sympathy for the new clause, I am not persuaded of the
necessity of a statutory obligation at this time. I hope that we
will be able to review this as that information is
published...
Amendment made: 12, page 3, line 22, leave out from beginning to
end of line 24 and insert—
‘(3A) The “designated authority” is the National Crime
Agency.
(4) The Secretary of State may by regulations amend this section
so as to change the meaning of “designated
authority”.’—(.)
The Bill currently provides for the Secretary of State to
designate the “designated authority” in regulations. This
amendment instead provides, on the face of the Bill, that the
National Crime Agency is the designated
authority and confers a power on the Secretary of State to amend
new section 74B to designate a different authority.
Amendment proposed: 13, page 3, line 37, leave out from beginning
to end of line 2 on page 4.—(.)
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
Extract from Public
Bill committee for the Fisheries Bill
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs ():...On the
equally serious issue of modern slavery, working conditions and
the general wellbeing of our fishers, the UK has fully
implemented the requirements of the International Labour
Organisation’s work in fishing convention. Of course, we have the
Modern Slavery Act 2015, which ensures that—from 2016—officers
from police forces, the National Crime Agency
and Border Force can board and search vessels, seize evidence and
arrest offenders. Section 1(2)(b) of the National Minimum Wage
Act 1998 already requires that
“all seafarers working on ships within the UK internal waters and
ports are entitled to be paid at least the national minimum
wage.”
That is
“regardless of where the ship is registered”
or where the worker ordinarily lives or comes from. The legal
exception to that is for those paid by crew share. We know that
almost three quarters of fishermen are paid that way...
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
