Clause 17
Serious Crime Bill [Lords]
10:45 am
Douglas Hogg (Sleaford and North Hykeham, Conservative)
I know that the amendments have the support of my hon. Friend the Member for Hornchurch. I return to the fact that the orders are pretty draconian. We have already argued that point in this Committee and it is generally agreed that they are potentially extremely serious. That being so, one has to ask for how long they should run. We would not necessarily be dealing with people who had committed criminal offences. Some would not have done—I refer to the facilitator. The restrictions that might be contained in the order are specified in clause 6, and they are pretty widespread; they touch on almost every aspect of people’s ordinary lives. The Minister says that they are not punitive but preventive. That is true as to their purpose, but they can plainly be used in a punitive way. Equally plainly, they can have penal consequences. For the reasons that I have already argued in this Committee on many an occasion, I do not think that the safeguards are appropriate or sufficient.
Given that, how long should an order run? The Bill provides for a five-year term—that is the maximum; it would not necessarily be that long—and I believe that that is too long. It should be a lesser period, having regard to all the considerations that I have advanced, hence the proposal that it should be but one year.