Clause 26
Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Bill
2:45 pm
Lady Hermon (North Down, UUP)
Well, more than half. I was being polite.
My difficulty with the clause is that it is precise in providing that a member of Her Majesty’s forces who performs such a search
“may examine any document or record found in order to ascertain whether it contains information of the kind mentioned in section 58(1)(a)...of the Terrorism Act 2000...(information likely to be useful for terrorism)”
and that
“if necessary or expedient for the purpose”
of the provision that person
“may remove the document or record to another place and retain it there until the examination is completed.”
The clause deals with specific types of documents that relate to terrorism. It is unusual in such circumstances that, under clause 26(3),
“A document or record may not be retained by virtue of subjection (1)(b) for more than 48 hours.”
When we discuss clause 27 stand part, it will become apparent that no photocopy or photograph can be taken of a document that might relate to terrorism.
Given what the Minister just said in response tothe objections of the hon. Member for Foyle and his assurance that the powers are still necessary in Northern Ireland to combat terrorism in all its forms—I make no distinction between home-grown terrorism and international terrorism; I loathe and detest all forms of terrorism—it seems that an amendment is necessary. That is why I urge the Minister to review clause 26. As drafted, it places no obligation on a member of Her Majesty’s forces to pass to the PSNI documents they find that are useful for combating terrorism. Instead, they are duty bound to return the original document within 48 hours. They cannot retain the original and pass back a photocopy or photograph, because that is prohibited by clause 27, so I am not at all happy with the clause.