Clause 27 - Possession of false identity documents etc.
Identity Cards Bill
5:00 pm
Andy Burnham (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; Leigh, Labour)
I shall attempt to provide the hon. and learned Gentleman with an answer. If I get any element wrong, I shall clarify the matter in writing. Proving possession and intent is obviously quite a high bar to get over, as he said. The 10-year sentence will be common when people are operating for the purposes of a serious crime. The “intent to use” limb of the offence could be difficult to prove; the offence of possession would of course be easier to prove.
I shall have to get back to the hon. and learned Gentleman on whether one offence will rule out another, or whether we might try for one offence and then go for the lesser charge. It will be up to the prosecution to determine which of the two offences might be made to stick. The lesser charge obviously carries with it a much lesser sentence, and the prosecution will have to judge which offence it is right to go for. I shall come back to him on that.
The hon. and learned Gentleman also asked about the two pieces of legislation and why we are not repealing the 1981 Act. My understanding is that the 1981 Act is much more general and deals with the whole range of documents. The Bill deals specifically with identity documents, and there are differences between the two sets of provisions.