Clause 21 - Scope of emergency regulations
Civil Contingencies Bill
5:15 pm
Mr Alistair Carmichael (Shadow Minister (Northern Ireland), Northern Ireland Affairs; Orkney and Shetland, Liberal Democrat)
I am in some measure reassured by what the Under-Secretary says, but examples are not always helpful in such cases. Her examples were not particularly good. For instance, price controls may not be known to every shop owner or on every street corner in the country; they would inevitably be complex, and it would be easy for someone to fall foul of the detail of the regulations. I do not see why the knowingly element or the mens rea should be so difficult for the Government. It is always a matter of evidence. As one moves towards the situation akin to strict liability, the evidence is not difficult to adduce. It often works as a rebuttable presumption.