The National Security Bill is shortly due to be debated in Public
Bill Committee. As part of scrutiny, the group is now inviting
those with an interest to submit written evidence to the House of
Commons Public Bill Committee which is going to consider this
Bill.
A Public Bill Committee is a committee set up by the House of
Commons to examine the details of a particular Bill. You can find
out more about them on the website here.
The first sitting of this Public Bill Committee is expected to be
on Thursday 7 July 2022. They are expected to scrutinise the Bill
line by line before reporting back to the House by Tuesday 13
September 2022.
When the Committee concludes its consideration of the Bill it is
no longer able to receive written evidence and it can conclude
earlier than the expected deadline of 5.00pm on Tuesday 13
September 2022.
Aims of the Bill
The Bill would replace existing counter-espionage laws with a
comprehensive framework for countering hostile state activity
analogous to the counter-terrorism framework established since
2000. It would also limit the availability of civil legal aid and
damages to those connected with terrorist activity.
The Bill is comprised of three parts. Parts 1 and 2 of the Bill
would create an extensive framework for countering state threats
modelled on the counter-terrorism framework established under the
Terrorism Act 2000 (“TACT”) and numerous subsequent pieces of
counter-terrorism legislation.
The measures include:
- New offences relating to espionage, sabotage and entering
prohibited places;
- Foreign interference offences;
- Preparatory conduct relating to state threat activity;
- Powers to take state threat activity into account as an
aggravating factor in sentencing;
- Powers to arrest and detain without a warrant;
- Powers to impose civil prevention and investigation measures
on individuals suspected of involvement in such activity where
prosecution is not possible;
- The creation of an independent reviewer to report on the use
of the powers
Part 3 of the Bill concerns individuals involved in terrorist
activity. It would introduce measures to:
- Require courts to consider reducing damages in cases brought
against the Crown by individuals connected with terrorist
activity;
- Provide for a regime to freeze and forfeit damages where
there is a real risk they may be used for terrorist purposes;
- Restrict the availability of civil legal aid to individuals
with a conviction for a terrorist offence.
The Government has published overarching documents on
the Bill. The Bill pages also contain
links to the explanatory notes,
and delegated powers
memorandum. The Bill would extend to the whole of the UK. The
explanatory notes provide further detail on devolution matters.
