Clause 12 - Legal proceedings

HGV Road User Levy Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 10:00 am on 11 December 2012.

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Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

Photo of Stephen Hammond Stephen Hammond The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The purpose of the clause is to give effect to schedule 2, which sets out the arrangements for legal proceedings in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, proceedings may be instituted only by the Secretary of State, or by a constable with the approval of the Secretary of State, and they may be initiated at any time within six months from the date on which sufficient evidence comes to light in the opinion of the person instituting the proceedings. Proceedings may also be started up to three years after the commission of the offence. The enforcement of the charge will be carried out by using a database recording levy purchases. Conclusive proof of the approval may be provided by a certificate signed by, or on behalf of, the Secretary of State, stating the date on which the evidence came to the knowledge of the person instituting the proceedings.

In Scotland, proceedings under clause 11 may not be started more than three years after the commission of the offence. They may be instituted by the procurator fiscal as a result of information provided by the Secretary of State, or the person instituting the proceedings. Conclusive evidence of the approval may be provided by a certificate signed by, or on behalf of, the Secretary of State, or the person instituting the proceedings, or purporting to be signed on that basis. The paragraph creates a statutory exception from the general rule of corroboration in Scots criminal law.

Similar exceptions exist elsewhere in statute, for example, under section 54 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994. The clause lists authorised persons for England, Northern Ireland and Wales, and for Scotland, and it specifies time limits for underpayment and overpayment recovery.

Photo of Alan Reid Alan Reid Liberal Democrat, Argyll and Bute 10:15, 11 December 2012

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this morning, Mrs Osborne.

I want clarification of schedule 2(6), which states:

“In proceedings in Scotland...the accused may be convicted on the evidence of one witness.”

My hon. Friend will know that there is currently a heated debate in Scotland on corroboration in criminal cases. Traditionally in such cases in Scotland, corroboration is required to secure a conviction, but the SNP has put forward proposals to remove that requirement, and that has led to a heated debate. My hon. Friend touched on the issue dealt with in paragraph (6) in his remarks, but may I clarify that what is being introduced here—where corroboration is not required—is standard in road traffic offences already, and we are not pre-empting anything that the Scottish Government may propose in the case of criminal offences?

Photo of Stephen Hammond Stephen Hammond The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

I am absolutely clear that, having consulted the necessary Scottish legal opinion, we are not doing anything to counter that. I made the comment about the statutory exception, but that will not impinge upon anything else that the Scottish Government might wish to do in this area.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 12 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Schedule 2 agreed to.