New Clause 6 - Police directions stopping the harassment etc of a person in his home
Criminal Justice and Police Bill
4:45 pm
Mr Simon Hughes (North Southwark and Bermondsey, Liberal Democrat)
I had misunderstood the hon. Gentleman, and he might unwittingly have misled the Committee. I am grateful to him.
My hon. Friend the Member for Taunton (Jackie Ballard) and I have asked the Minister questions aimed at ensuring that the definitions in the Government new clauses are clear. The definition of a person who is in the vicinity of premises should be narrow. It could be that case law deals with that. However, ``in the vicinity'', as defined from its Latin root, does not necessarily mean very close. It could mean a long way away. That is a pretty wide definition, which gives the police the ability to give a direction to somebody who might be 100 yd, half a mile or several miles away.
At the moment, because of foot and mouth disease, there are protective rings around certain farms to prevent activity in the vicinity of infected farms. They sometimes stretch for several miles. I should like to flag up the fact that we are looking at a definition that may be far wider than intended, and far wider than might be appropriate in the circumstances.