Clause 19 - Offence
London Olympics Bill
11:45 am
Don Foster (Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport, Culture, Media & Sport; Bath, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move amendment No. 16, in page 14, line 3, leave out subsection (2).
We are back to advertising. Subsection (2) contradicts the concept that everyone in this country and certainly our courts hold dear: the principle of innocence until proven guilty. The Government seem to be willing to sacrifice that long-standing principle in respect of advertising and replace it with the presumption of guilt. I am certainly not suggesting that the general aim of clause 19 is misguided. Notwithstanding my worry about what the regulations might cover, it should be an offence to contravene any of the advertising regulations under clause 17. When they are agreed by Parliament in due course, clearly, such activity should be an offence. I am as committed as anyone to stopping inappropriate advertising and to ensuring that we can fulfil the guarantees made to the IOC about it, but I genuinely find it hard to believe that it is imperative when achieving such results to overturn the usual procedure of innocence until proven guilty to what seems to be a dangerous presumption of guilt.
I raised the issue in advance of our deliberations with the Department, LOCOG and many other organisations. They have tried to help me and have explained why the matter is important, but so far I am not with them. I hope that the Minister’s help will be more effective than that which I have received so far. I wish to give him the opportunity to clarify why such a measure is necessary. However, I want first to remind him that he made it clear in the explanatory notes that accompany the Bill that the Secretary of State considers that the clause is compatible with the European convention on human rights. Paragraph 110 of the explanatory notes argues that clauses 19 is
“consistent with the presumption of innocence particularly as the matters subject to the reverse burden are matters within the knowledge of the defendant and which would be difficult for the prosecution to prove.”
That advice is meant to be part of an explanatory note. It says that, when we have the reversal of the usual approach to presumption of innocence, we do not have it. It then goes on to explain the reason for that, as a result of which I become completely lost.
We seem to be reversing the long-held belief of innocence until proven guilty. The explanatory notes say that such action is not being taken, but clearly it is. I have not the foggiest notion why that should be so. I could quote several examples from certain organisations, but I thought that it would be better to hear what the Minister has to say first, after which I might come back with a few comments about what others think about the proposal.