[Ir-l] today's Anti-Terrorism, Crime And Security Bill

[tony at gaia.org]

gleaned from
http://cryptome.org/atcsb-notes.htm


13 November 2001. Thanks to RC.
Source:
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200102/cmbills/
049/en/02049x--.htm
See bill:
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200102/cmbills/
049/2002049.htm
House of Commons
Session 2001- 02
Anti-Terrorism, Crime And Security Bill
These notes refer to the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Bill
as introduced in the House of Commons on 12th November 2001 [Bill 49]
ANTI-TERRORISM, CRIME AND SECURITY BILL
EXPLANATORY NOTES
INTRODUCTION

1.     These Explanatory Notes relate to the
	Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Bill as introduced into the House
of Commons
	on 12 November 2001. They have been prepared by the Home Office, Her
Majesty's
	Treasury, Department of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Defence,
Department
	for Transport, Local Government and the Regions and the Foreign and
Commonwealth
	Office, in order to assist the reader of the Bill and to help inform
debate
	on it. They do not form part of the Bill and have not been endorsed
by
	Parliament.

2.     The notes need to be read in conjunction
	with the Bill. They are not, and are not meant to be, a
comprehensive description
	of the Bill. So where a clause or part of a clause does not seem to
require
	any explanation, none is given.

SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND

3.     The purpose of this bill is to strengthen
	legislation in a number of areas to ensure that the Government, in
the light
	of the new situation arising from the September 11 terrorist attacks
on New
	York and Washington, have the necessary powers to counter the
increased threat
	to the UK. The measures are intended to:

Cut off terrorist funding
	  
Ensure that government departments and agencies can collect and share
information
	    required for countering the terrorist threat
	  
Streamline relevant immigration procedures
	  
Tackle those who seek to stir up religious and racial hatred or
violence
	  
Ensure the security of the nuclear and aviation industries
	  
Improve the security of dangerous substances that may be targeted or
used
	    by terrorists
	  
Extend police powers available to relevant forces

Ensure that we can meet our European obligations in the area of
police and
	    judicial co-operation and our international obligations to
counter bribery
	    and corruption
	  
Update parts of the UK's anti-terrorist powers

OVERVIEW

4.     The bill is in 14 Parts.

Terrorist property
5.     Part 1 and Schedules 1 and 2 of the Bill
	contain provisions to prevent terrorists from gaining access to
their money.
	They complement provisions in the new Proceeds of Crime Bill and
ensure that
	investigative and freezing powers are available wherever funds could
be used
	to finance terrorism.

6.     The introduction of account monitoring orders
	will enable the police to require financial institutions to provide
information
	on accounts for up to 90 days. The existing requirement to report
knowledge
	or suspicion of terrorist financing will be strengthened, for the
regulated
	sector, so that it will be an offence not to report where there were
"reasonable
	grounds" for suspicion.

7.     The Bill gives law enforcement agencies the
	power to seize terrorist cash anywhere in the UK, and the power to
freeze
	assets at the start of an investigation, rather than when the person
is about
	to be charged, reducing the risk that funds will be used or moved
before
	they can be frozen.

Freezing orders
8.     Part 2 and Schedule 3 of the Bill contain
	measures to update the Emergency Laws (Re-enactments and Repeals)
Act 1964
	to allow the UK to take swifter, more targeted action to freeze the
assets
	of overseas governments or residents. The Bill will widen the
"trigger" so
	that the Government can counter threats to any part of the UK
economy or
	threats to the life or property of a UK resident or national.

Disclosure of information
9.     Part 3 and schedule 4 of the Bill create
	a new gateway giving HM Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue a
general
	power to disclose information held by them for law enforcement
purposes and
	to the intelligence services for their purposes.

10.     The Bill also clarifies and extends a number
	of existing gateways for disclosure of information from public
authorities
	to agencies involved in criminal investigations and proceedings. The
gateways
	will ensure that public authorities can disclose certain types of
otherwise
	confidential information where this is necessary for the purposes of
fighting
	terrorism and other crimes.

Immigration and asylum
11.     Part 4, clauses 21 to 32 ("Suspected
	international terrorists") allow the detention of those the
Secretary of
	State has certified as threats to national security and who are
suspected
	of being international terrorists where their removal is not
possible at
	the present time. Such detention would be subject to regular
independent
	review by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission. These
provisions change
	the current law, which allows detention with a view to removal only
where
	removal is a realistic option within a reasonable period of time.

12.     It is also intended to speed up the asylum
	process for suspected terrorists. The Bill will exclude substantive
consideration
	of asylum claims where the Secretary of State certifies that their
removal
	would be conducive to the public good. This would not be in breach
of the
	1951 Refugee Convention because they are excluded from the
protection of
	that Convention.

13.     It will also remove judicial review of decisions
	of the SIAC in relation to the above two measures. SIAC is the body
that
	deals with suspected terrorists' appeals against immigration
decisions: it
	has three members hearing an appeal, one of whom has held high
judicial office
	and another of whom has been an immigration judge. There will remain
an avenue
	of appeal from SIAC to the Court of Appeal on a point of law.

14.     The Bill will also allow for the retention,
	for 10 years, of fingerprints taken in asylum and certain
immigration cases.
	This will help prevent applicants who have had their case resolved
from
	re-applying and creating multiple identities, which can be used in
the
	perpetration of terrorism or other serious crimes.

Race and religion
15.     Part 5 of the Bill extends the racially
	aggravated offences of assault, public order, criminal damage and
harassment
	to cover attacks aggravated by religious hostility. They extend the
provisions
	concerning incitement to racial hatred to cover religious hatred.
They include
	cases where the hatred is directed against groups abroad, and
increase the
	maximum penalty for such offences from 2 to 7 years imprisonment.

16.     To be prosecuted for stirring up religious
	hatred, a perpetrator must use threatening, abusive or insulting
words
	or behaviour intended or likely to stir up hatred against a group of
people
	because of their religious belief (or lack of religious belief)

Weapons of mass destruction
17.     Part 6 of the Bill will strengthen current
	legislation controlling chemical, nuclear and biological weapons.

Control of pathogens and toxins
18.     The provisions set out in Part 7 (and schedules
	5 and 6) will place an obligation on managers of laboratories and
other premises
	holding stocks of specified disease-causing micro-organisms and
toxins to
	notify their holdings, and to comply with any reasonable security
requirements which the police may impose.

19.     It will also require managers of laboratories
	and other premises, on request, to furnish the police with details
of people
	with access to the dangerous substances held there. The Secretary of
State
	is given power to direct that a named individual must not be allowed
access
	to such disease strains or the premises in which they are held.

Nuclear Security
20.     The provisions in Part 8 reinforce and update
	the regulatory regime for security in the nuclear industry.

21.     They also extend the jurisdiction for the
	United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary (AEAC) so that
their
	constables can protect nuclear sites and nuclear material more
effectively.
	They will be able to be deployed in all civil licensed nuclear
sites, rather
	than at present only on premises of specified nuclear operators, and
within
	five kilometres of such sites.

22.     They also strengthen sanctions against the
	unauthorised disclosure of sensitive information on the security of
nuclear
	sites, nuclear material and proliferation-sensitive nuclear
technology.

Aviation security
23.     Part 9 improves enforcement of aviation
	security requirements and the ability of the police to deal with
potentially
	dangerous situations at airports and on board aircraft. It includes
provisions
	in respect of the removal of Unauthorised Persons from Airport
Restricted
	Zones and from Aircraft.

24.     At present the Aviation Security Act 1982
	makes it an offence for an unauthorised person to enter an airport's
Restricted
	Zone, or an aircraft, and to remain there after being asked to
leave. However,
	there is no specific power to remove someone who refuses to leave.
The Bill gives this power of removal. It will also bring the aviation
industry into
	line with the maritime and Channel Tunnel industries, where
equivalent powers
	exist under the Aviation and Maritime Security Act 1990 (Section 39,
as amended
	by the Merchant Shipping and Maritime Security Act 1997) and under
the Channel
	Tunnel Security Order (Article 31(4)) respectively.

Police powers
25.     In a small group of cases detainees can
	fail to co-operate with police identification procedures (e.g.
fingerprinting).
	Part 10 contains powers to give the police and customs services the
authority
	to demand the removal of any item which they believe is being worn
wholly
	or mainly for the purpose of concealing identity, such as facial
covering
	or gloves.

26.     Clauses 97 to 100 and Schedule 7 will allow
	the British Transport Police (BTP) to act outside their railways
jurisdiction
	when asked to assist by a constable from the local police force, the
MDP
	or the UKAEA constabulary or Ministry of Defence Police officer, and
in an
	emergency. The changes will also give BTP officers certain powers
available
	to local police officers, including powers under the Terrorism Act
2000 and
	powers to enter into mutual aid agreements with other forces.

27.     Similarly, changes proposed for the Ministry
	of Defence Police (MDP) will allow them to act outside MoD land when
asked
	by a constable from the local police force, the BTP or the UKAEA
constabulary
	or in relation to a specific incident, and in an emergency. The
changes will
	also allow MDP to provide assistance, on request, to other forces,
and extend
	to them certain powers in the Terrorism Act 2000

Retention of communications data
28.     Part 11 contains provisions to allow
	communications service providers to retain data about their
customers'
	communications for access by law enforcement agencies and for
national security
	purposes and to enable a code of practice to be drawn up in
consultation
	with industry.

29.     The code of practice will allow communications
	service providers to retain data about their customers'
communications for
	access by law enforcement agencies. Currently communications service
providers
	are obliged to erase this data when they no longer need it for
billing purposes.

30.     These provisions fall within the Regulation
	of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 which sets out the limits on the
purposes
	for which the law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies
may request
	access to data relating to specific communications.

31.     There is also a reserve power to review
	the arrangements and issue directions if necessary. If still needed,
it must
	be reviewed by an affirmative order every two years. As soon as the
power
	is exercised, there is no need for further review.

Bribery and corruption
32.     Part 12 brings in provisions to strengthen
	the law on international corruption. The clauses put beyond doubt
that the
	law of bribery applies to acts involving foreign public officials,
Ministers,
	MPs and judges. They give courts jurisdiction over crimes of bribery
committed
	by UK nationals and UK companies overseas. There is also a technical
provision,
	to ensure that the existing presumption of corruption in the 1916
Act, which
	it is intended to abolish, does not apply any more widely as a
result of
	these new provisions

Miscellaneous
33.     Measures on police and criminal judicial
	co-operation agreed by the JHA Council of the EU (third pillar) can
currently
	only be implemented in the UK by primary legislation. This clause
would enable
	them to be implemented by secondary legislation by the affirmative
resolution
	procedure. Measures agreed on European Community matters (for
example the
	environment or the internal market) can already be implemented by
secondary legislation.

34.     Part 13 also contains measures relating
	to the use or threatened use of noxious substances, (including
biological
	agents or toxins, toxic chemicals or radioactive material) for
terrorist
	and other similar purposes.

35.     It also introduces a new offence of hoaxing
	involving apparently noxious substances

36.     The proposals, amending the Intelligence
	Services Act 1994, introduce greater flexibility for intelligence
gathering
	outside the British Islands and adapt the scope and definition of
serious
	crime. They achieve this through extending the powers of GCHQ.

37.     The Bill reintroduces the offence of a general
	failure to disclose information about terrorism. It was previously
contained
	within in the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in relation to
Northern Ireland.
	The new provision will extend the provision to domestic and
international terrorism. The Bill will also introduce a definition of
a radioactive weapon.

38.     The bill also amends schedule 7 of the Terrorism
	Act 2000 to include internal journeys. It will equalise provisions
to stop,
	detain and search people who journey internally with those
travelling to
	and from the UK and Common Travel Area (CTA).

39.     It will also give a power to require carriers
	to supply information about passengers and freight to enforcement
agencies
	and allow sharing between the agencies. Details of the information
that carriers
	will be required to provide is to be decided in secondary
legislation.

Supplemental
40.     Part 14 provides for consequential and
	supplementary provision to be made by secondary legislation, and
makes provision
	for commencement and for the extent and short title of the bill.

COMMENTARY ON CLAUSES

PART 1: TERRORIST PROPERTY

Clause 1 Forfeiture of Terrorist cash

41.     Clause 1 introduces Schedule 1, which expands
	and replaces the current provisions in the Terrorism Act 2000 for
the seizure
	and forfeiture of terrorist cash at the borders in civil proceedings.

42.     Terrorist cash is cash which is intended
	to be used for the purposes of terrorism, cash which consists of the
resources
	of a proscribed organisation or cash which is or represents property
obtained
	through terrorism. "Terrorism" and "proscribed organisation" are
defined
	in paragraph 19 of Schedule 1. Property obtained through terrorism
is defined
	as property obtained by or in return for acts of terrorism or by or
in return
	for acts carried out for the purposes of terrorism (paragraph 11(1)
of Schedule
	1).

43.     Subsection (2) makes it clear that
	the powers of seizure and forfeiture are exercisable whether or not
any criminal
	proceedings have been brought for an offence in connection with the
cash.

44.     Schedule 14 to the Terrorism Act 2000 (as
	amended by clause 2 to the Bill) provides for a code of practice to
be made
	in relation to the operation of powers under Schedule 1 to this
Bill. The
	code is subject to a consultation process and to the affirmative
resolution
	procedure. Subsection (5) of clause 1 provides that, in this
instance,
	the modifications to the existing code may be made in the order
commencing
	Schedule 1.

Clause 2 Amendments relating to section 1

45.     Subsections (1) to (3) amend the
	Access to Justice Act 1999 so that Community Legal Service funding
is available
	for proceedings under Schedule 1.

46.     Subsections(4) to (7) amend Schedule
	14 to the Terrorism Act 2000 so that it applies to Schedule 1 to
this Bill.

47.     Subsection (8) amends the Legal Aid,
	Advice and Assistance (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 so that legal
aid is
	available for proceedings under Schedule 1.

Clause 3 Terrorist property: amendments

48.     Clause 3 introduces Schedule 2 to this Bill.

PART 2: FREEZING ORDERS

49.     Part 2 contains measures to allow the United
	Kingdom to take action to freeze the assets of overseas persons or
governments
	who are threatening the economic interests of the United Kingdom or
the life
	or property of United Kingdom residents.

50.      These provisions will allow the United
	Kingdom to impose sanctions in cases of urgency, where neither the
United
	Nations nor the European Union has yet agreed a course of action, or
in cases
	where it is appropriate for the United Kingdom to impose sanctions
unilaterally.

51.     The provisions replace section 2 of the
	Emergency Laws (Re-enactments and Repeals) Act 1964. Under that
section,
	the United Kingdom can freeze the assets of an overseas government
and overseas
	residents if the country or the persons in question is (or are)
acting to
	the detriment of the United Kingdom economy. Under the provisions in
the
	Bill, the Treasury will be able to freeze the assets of overseas
governments
	or residents when there is a threat to the United Kingdom economy or
to the
	life or property of United Kingdom nationals or residents.

Orders
Clause 4 Power to make order

52.     This clause allows the Treasury to make
	a freezing order if two conditions are satisfied. First, the
Treasury must
	reasonably believe that action threatening the United Kingdom's
economy (or
	part of it) or the life or property of United Kingdom nationals or
residents
	has taken place or is likely to take place. Secondly, the persons
involved
	in the action must be resident outside the United Kingdom or be an
overseas
	government.

Clause 5 Contents of order

53.     A freezing order prohibits all persons in
	the United Kingdom, and all persons elsewhere who are United Kingdom
nationals,
	bodies incorporated in the United Kingdom or Scottish partnerships
from making
	funds available to or for the benefit of a person or persons
specified in the order. The order may specify the persons taking the
action referred to
	in clause 4 and any person who has provided or is likely to provide
assistance
	(directly or indirectly) to those persons. The specification may be
by name
	or by description of persons set out in the order. Where a person is
specified
	by description, the description must be such that a reasonable
person would
	know whether he fell within it.

Clause 6 Contents: further provisions

54.     This clause introduces Schedule 3, which
	makes further provision about the contents of freezing orders.

Clause 7 Review of order

55.     This clause requires the Treasury to keep
	under review whether any freezing order should be kept in force or
amended.

Clause 8 Duration of order

56.     This clause specifies that a freezing order
	lapses two years after it was made.

Interpretation
Clause 9 Nationals and residents

57.     This clause sets out the persons who are
	nationals or residents of the United Kingdom for the purposes of
this Part.
	It also sets out who is a resident of a country outside the United
Kingdom
	for the purposes of this Part.

Orders: procedure etc.
Clause 10 Procedure for making freezing orders

58.     A freezing order must be made by statutory
	instrument. The order must be laid before Parliament and ceases to
have effect
	after 28 days unless it is approved by each House of Parliament.

Clause11 Procedure for making certain amending orders

59.     This clause applies where a freezing order
	has already been made. Where a further order specifies additional
persons
	of the same description as those specified in the original order, or
amends
	the order to specify fewer persons, it is instead subject to the
negative
	resolution procedure.

Clause 12 Procedure for revoking orders

60.     This clause provides that an order revoking
	a freezing order (without-re-enacting it) is subject to the negative
resolution
	procedure.

Clause 13 De-hybridisation

61.     This clause provides that an order that
	would otherwise be treated as hybrid under Parliament's standing
orders is
	not to be subject to the special procedure for hybrid instruments.

Clause 14 Orders: supplementary

62.     This clause provides that a power under
	the Part to make a freezing order or an order amending or revoking a
freezing
	order may be exercised so as to make different provision for
different purposes.
	A freezing order or an order amending or revoking one may also
include supplementary, incidental, savings or transitional
provisions. Nothing in
	this Part affects the generality of this power.

Miscellaneous

Clause 15 The Crown

63.     Freezing orders bind the Crown and Crown
	servants, but the Crown is not criminally liable for breaches of
freezing
	orders. The orders will not bind the Queen in Her personal capacity.

Clause 16 Repeals

64.     This clause repeals the Treasury's existing
	power to freeze assets under section 2 of the Emergency Laws
(Re-enactments
	and Repeals) Act 1964. The repeal of section 2 does not affect any
references
	to that provision in other subordinate legislation.

PART 3: DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

Clause 17 Extension of existing disclosure powers

65.     This clause clarifies and extends a number
	of information disclosure provisions available to individuals
working in
	public authorities. The powers are listed in schedule 4. It permits
disclosure
	to assist any criminal investigation or criminal proceedings being
carried
	out in the UK or abroad or to facilitate whether or not such
investigations
	or proceedings should begin or end. The clause does not limit any
power to
	disclose that exists apart from this clause.

Clause 18 Restriction on disclosure of information for overseas
purposes

66.     This clause enables the Secretary of State
	to prohibit the disclosure of information for the purposes of
overseas criminal
	investigations or criminal proceedings that would otherwise be
permitted
	by clause 11 or without clause 11 by the provisions modified by that
clause.
	This power may be exercised where it appears to him that the overseas
	investigation or proceeding relates to a matter in respect of which
it would
	be more appropriate for any jurisdiction or investigation to be
exercised
	or carried out by the authorities of the United Kingdom or a third
country.

67.     Any person who knowingly makes a disclosure
	prohibited by the Secretary of State pursuant to clause 12 will be
guilty
	of an offence. The person will be liable on conviction on indictment
to
	imprisonment for a term of up to two years or a fine or to both, and
on summary
	conviction to imprisonment for a term of up to three months or a
fine of
	up to the statutory maximum (which is currently set at £5000).

Clause 19 Disclosure of information held by revenue departments

68.     This clause applies to information held
	by or for the Commissioners of the Inland Revenue and Customs and
Excise
	Departments. The clause provides that no obligation of secrecy,
excepting
	the Data Protection Act 1998 requirements, prevents the voluntary
disclosure
	of information on the authority of the relevant Commissioners made
for the
	following purposes: to assist any criminal investigation or criminal
proceedings
	being carried out in the UK or abroad or to facilitate whether or
not such
	investigations or proceedings should begin or end. In addition, the
clause
	allows for disclosure to the intelligence services (the Security
Service,
	the Secret Intelligence Service and GCHQ) in support of their
functions these functions include the protection of national security
and the prevention
	and detection of serious crime.

69.     Disclosed information cannot be further
	disclosed by the recipient except for the purposes permitted for
original
	disclosures and with the consent of the relevant Commissioners.
Bodies who
	receive information from Customs and the Inland Revenue may not
further disclose
	that information to the intelligence services except for criminal
investigations
	or proceedings. The clause does not limit any power to disclose that
exists apart from this clause.

PART 4: IMMIGRATION AND ASYLUM

70.     This Part contains measures concerned with
	the capacity of the UK's immigration and asylum procedures to deal
with people
	whose presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good.

71.     The first two measures - extended powers
	to detain foreign nationals who are suspected international
terrorists (clauses
	21 to 32) and non-consideration of the substance of an asylum claim
made
	by certain people whose removal from the UK is conducive to the
public good (clauses 33 and 34) - are fairly narrow in their focus.
They apply only to
	those cases where any appeal against a decision taken by the
Secretary of State lies with the Special Immigration Appeals
Commission (SIAC). SIAC is
	an independent judicial body set up by the Special Immigration
Appeals Commission
	Act 1997 to hear appeals which involve a public interest provision.
A "public
	interest provision" is a provision by which a person's presence in
the UK
	is considered not to be conducive to the public good for reasons of
national
	security, or the relations between the UK and any other country, or
for other
	reasons of a political nature.

72.     The third measure allows the Secretary of
	State to retain fingerprints taken in asylum and certain immigration
cases
	which were previously destroyed once the case was decided.

© Parliamentary
	copyright 2001
Prepared: 13 November 2001