Clause 2 - Penalties
Aviation (Offences) Bill
Mr David Jamieson (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Plymouth, Devonport, Labour)
Although, as I said earlier, the incidents that we are talking about today are rare, if they do occur the offence is, as my hon. Friend the Member for Motherwell and Wishaw said, very serious and warrants the higher penalty. In a recent case, the judge who passed judgment on the person found guilty said that he would have given a higher sentence had that been available. We therefore agree with the police recommendation that the five-year maximum penalty is appropriate.
I thank my hon. Friend for giving me prior notice of an amendment that he may want to table. It sounds as if, in principle, we would support it. We look forward to seeing it so that we can incorporate it sensibly into the Bill.
The hon. Member for East Devon, who almost caused disruptive behaviour in a Committee by soaking the hon. Member for Newark when he stood up to speak, asked about passengers on foreign airlines. The only circumstance in which we would have jurisdiction there would be when the United Kingdom was the next state in which the plane landed. We would have some jurisdiction then. We also have jurisdiction over UK-registered aircraft, wherever they are.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation has passed a resolution urging states to enact more to deal with disruptive passengers. Like all aviation and shipping matters, these matters must be dealt with internationally if they are to be dealt with effectively. My hon. Friend the Member for Luton, North (Mr. Hopkins) almost answered his own question in his opening remarks. He said that we need international agreement to get a ban on the use of aircraft by people who are seriously disruptive. I would be quite happy for those people to fly once more—on a one-way ticket out of the country, and be gone for ever. Notwithstanding that, what he said makes sense. We in this country lead the world on such issues and we must keep an eye on the matter. We must also consider whether, if this is a growing problem and we feel that the laws in this and other countries have not been adequate and sufficient to deal with the situation, we can make a further international agreement at ICAO. The issue would be a candidate for discussion at ICAO in future, probably prompted by us.
3.30 pm