New Clause 6 - Commencement of Chapter 4
Crime (International Co-operation) Bill [Lords]
3:30 pm
Ms Caroline Flint (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (reducing organised and international crime, anti drugs co-ordination and international and European issues), Home Office; Don Valley, Labour)
As the hon. Gentleman says, the subject is similar to one that we discussed earlier today. The new clause would ensure that the provisions of chapter 4 did not come into effect until all participating countries had implemented similar provisions. That is similar ground to that covered in discussion on amendment No. 88A, which sought to restrict the application of clause 32 to EU member states that had incorporated similar provisions into national law.
We think that the new clause is unnecessary. Participating countries, for the purpose of chapter 4, will be member states of the European Union, and it is inevitable that they will implement the protocol at different times. Indeed, the protocol is framed in such a way as to ensure that the failure of just one or two states to adopt the protocol does not prevent the agreement from coming into force between the other parties. The protocol provides that it will enter into force once eight member states have ratified.
We would not wish to restrict the application of our legislative provisions until the last member state ratifies. That would not be of any benefit to us, and would prevent our authorities from seeking assistance from countries that could assist. However, I stress that that does not mean that we will be responding to requests for customer information and account monitoring from those member states that have not adopted the protocol. In order to make a request on the basis of articles 1, 2 or 3 of the protocol, member states must have notified the Council of the EU under the terms of article 13.