Clause 70 - Committal by magistrates' court
Proceeds of Crime Bill
2:45 pm
Mr Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 137, in page 44, line 18, after `offence', insert
`punishable by a term of imprisonment or a fine of level 2 or above on the standard scale.'.
We touched on this subject in an earlier sitting, when we discussed what constituted a ``criminal lifestyle'', issues to do with ``general conduct'', and the powers under clause 6. That seems a long time ago.
Clause 6(2) states the conditions that a defendant must satisfy if the Crown court is to proceed. As matters stand, the prosecutor has the discretion to request the magistrates court to commit a defendant to the Crown court with a view to making a confiscation order. He has entire and complete discretion, and the purpose of the amendment is to fetter that discretion.
I drafted the amendment to try to reduce to what I regard as a minimum the sorts of offence that would not fall under the discretion of the prosecutor. The offence should be
`punishable by a term of imprisonment or a fine of level 2 or above on the standard scale.'.
Level 2 is the second lowest level of fine available to a court; the scale does not go in reverse order. I do not want a long repetition of our arguments about clause 6, but I suggested the amendment because it would ensure that offences dealt with by the magistrates court that were of little consequence did not lead to an invocation of the procedure. I suspect that that is most unlikely to happen in practice, anyway.
As we discussed earlier, I have concerns about the extent of the powers and whether they will bite on those who have committed offences that most people would regard as minor. I am aware of the Minister's point about what I call the Al Capone clauses—despite my French background, it was the hon. Member for Glasgow, Pollok (Mr. Davidson) who pointed out that it is pronounced Al Capone. They provide the Government and the law enforcement agencies with a useful tool for taking assets from someone who has committed a minor offence. None the less, I am concerned about the issue and I think that we should be realistic about it.
As we are casting our net so wide, I question whether it should be at the discretion of the prosecutor to decide whether every category of offence for gain could lead to committal to the Crown court for confiscation proceedings. We can, without changing the criterion of ``criminal lifestyle'', ensure that those who are convicted of minor matters in magistrates courts are not committed to the Crown court on the prosecutor's whim.