Clause 26
Counter-Terrorism Bill
2:00 pm
Tony McNulty (Minister of State (Security, Counter-terrorism, Crime and Policing), Home Office; Harrow East, Labour)
Welcome back to our deliberations, Mr. Bercow. The start of my little speech states that we have grouped these amendments together because they relate to the treatment of a single offence. That is not meant to be a discourtesy to the House: we are happy that the House has grouped these amendments together, with advice or otherwise. Nevertheless, they relate to the treatment of a single offence under section 113 of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, as it appears in the various lists of offences in the Bill. That section makes it an offence to use noxious substances or things to cause serious violence or endanger human life or public safety, to influence or intimidate the Government or the public. That is an offence where the conduct takes place in the United Kingdom but also, by virtue of section 113A and subject to some conditions, overseas.
Amendment No. 135 makes post-charge questioning for the section 113 offence possible, irrespective of whether the conduct relating to the offence took place in the UK or overseas. Under the previous version of the clause—that originally tabled by the Government—a person charged with an offence under section 113 could be questioned about that offence post-charge if the criminal conduct took place overseas, but not if the offence was committed in the UK. That clearly is not a condition that we would want to prevail. Under the amendment, post-charge questioning will be available when the conduct constituting this offence took place in the UK as well as abroad.
Similarly, in relation to the list of offences triggering the notification requirements in clause 39, under amendment No. 142 the notification requirements will attach following a conviction and appropriate sentence for the section 113 offence, whether it was committed overseas or in the UK. Finally, Government amendment No. 137 removes the reference to section 113 of the 2001 Act from schedule 2 to the Bill. That schedule lists the offences for which the court in England and Wales or Scotland must consider whether there is a terrorist connection triggering aggravated sentencing and the notification requirements, which is germane to the next set of amendments.
The section 113 offence is being removed from this clause because, by virtue of amendment No. 142, the notification requirements will automatically apply following a conviction for the offence, so no determination of the terrorist connection is needed. Furthermore, as the section 113 offence is a terrorism offence, it will already be subject to a sentence which recognises that fact, and thus will not need to be considered for an aggravated sentence. In effect, amendment No. 137 is a consequence of the other Government amendments. That is eminently straightforward, and as clear as anything, and I commend the amendments to the Committee.