Clause 13
Energy Bill
Public Bill Committees, 21 February 2008, 2:45 pm
Malcolm Wicks (Minister of State (Energy), Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform; Croydon North, Labour)
This is very much a procedural clause that ensures that an offence under the chapter can be tried in any part of the United Kingdom, regardless of the location, which may be offshore, in which the offence may have been committed. It also sets out which authorities can institute, or give permission to institute, criminal proceedings in respect of the offshore area. The clause will provide a more streamlined procedure than exists under the current arrangements for prosecuting offences committed offshore. Those are contained in the Territorial Waters Jurisdiction Act, which, as you may recall, Mr. Amess, was in 1878 and would now be disapplied.