Part of Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Bill [Lords] – in a Public Bill Committee at 10:30 am on 15 November 2016.
Kevin Brennan
Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport) (Arts and Heritage)
10:30,
15 November 2016
And so on, ad infinitum—and perhaps reductio ad absurdum. The penalty envisaged in Clause 6 includes
“imprisonment for a term not exceeding 30 years.”
That is a lengthy term of imprisonment. We know that we are talking about some potentially serious offences, but it would be helpful to the Committee and to those observing our proceedings if the Minister clarified the severity of offence that would be likely to attract a sentence of that length. Clearly, that would not apply to all offences that might be committed under the Bill, although these are offences that, as we heard earlier, relate to cultural property of importance to all people, so an offence committed under the Bill would be a serious offence against all peoples of the world.
If the Minister clarified the thinking on the term of imprisonment and on the kinds of offence that might attract that length of sentence, I am sure the Committee would be enlightened.
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