Clause 5
Counter-Terrorism Bill
12:15 pm
Tom Brake (Shadow Minister (London and the Olympics), Culture, Media & Sport; Carshalton and Wallington, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move amendment No. 4, in clause 5, page 4, line 22, at end insert
‘, provided that he has satisfied himself that the provisions of sections 1 to 5 have been properly met.’.
The amendment is probing. We may touch on some of the ground that my hon. Friend the Member for Somerton and Frome, taking the example of a misleading record. We are trying to establish whether there is any bar in place to stop a 48-hour extension being sought if there are any breaches of the recording procedure during the original 48 hours after a document has been taken away to be considered. That could include how the document has been handled, or a privileged document being looked at by somebody who is not party to assessing whether the document is relevant.
The amendment would ensure that everything is done by the book in the first 48 hours, as one would expect. It would give the additional pressure or encouragement of the sanction that if there had been a clear breach, such as many significant mistakes in the record of removal, the extension would not be allowed. I hope that the Minister will consider the amendment and go into greater detail about how this measure will operate, such as whether there are safeguards for the first 48-hour period or sanctions if the rules are clearly breached.