Clause 32 - Customer information
Crime (International Co-operation) Bill [Lords]
9:15 am
Mr David Heath (Somerton and Frome, Liberal Democrat)
I welcome you to the Committee this morning, Mr. Hurst, and I extend a warm welcome to the new Minister. She has new responsibilities, and I hope that she will have the opportunity to read back over the previous sittings of this Committee because important questions were put to her predecessor that we were hoping for replies to: I hope that they will not get lost in the change-over, as they are crucial to the Bill's proceedings on Report. I ask her—through you, Mr. Hurst—that particular note be taken of the assurances that were given by the hon. Member for Coventry, North-East (Mr. Ainsworth), who is now Deputy Chief Whip and Treasurer of Her Majesty's Household, to consider particular aspects of what we have been discussing in the previous two sittings.
I return to the group of amendments that we are addressing. It is important that we establish what the procedure will be, because it is intrusive as it stands. I am sure that the tests of reasonableness are correct. The hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Mr. Hawkins) has not entirely persuaded me about amendment No. 146, which may be otiose in establishing whether the Secretary of State has acted reasonably in believing somebody to be subject to an investigation.
Amendment No. 87A is far more important because what is crucial is whether the authority that is issuing the request has given a full explanation for the reasons behind the application so that the Secretary of State can apply discretion properly. That was part of the framework agreement: it was expressly required as part of the procedures, but it is not in the Bill. The Minister may say that that is implicit in making a proper request: I disagree. The amendment of the hon. Member for Surrey Heath makes it much clearer what must accompany the request in terms of accessory information. The Minister might not be conducive to accepting amendment No. 146, but I hope that she will seriously consider amendment No. 87A and the form in which a request should be received under the framework in order to make it a legitimate request for
an investigation that has civil rights implications and should only be done on clear authority and with clear justification.