Crime and Courts Bill [HL]
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Crime and Courts Bill [HL] EXPLANATORY NOTES Explanatory notes to the Bill, prepared by the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice, are published separately as HL Bill 4—EN. EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Lord Henley has made the following statement under section 19(1)(a) of the Human Rights Act 1998: In my view the provisions of the Crime and Courts Bill [HL] are compatible with the Convention rights. HL Bill 4 55/2 Crime and Courts Bill [HL] CONTENTS PART 1 THE NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY The NCA and its officers 1 The National Crime Agency 2 Modification of NCA functions 3 Strategic priorities 4 Operations Other functions etc. 5 Relationships between NCA and other agencies: tasking etc 6 Duty to publish information 7 Information gateways 8 Other functions etc 9 Director General: customs powers of Commissioners & operational powers 10 Operational powers of other NCA officers General 11 Inspections and complaints 12 Information: restrictions on disclosure etc 13 NCA officers with operational powers: labour relations 14 NCA officers with operational powers: pay and allowances 15 Abolition of SOCA and NPIA 16 Interpretation of Part 1 PART 2 COURTS AND JUSTICE Administration of justice 17 Civil and family proceedings in England and Wales 18 Judicial appointments 19 Deployment of the judiciary HL Bill 4 55/2 ii Crime and Courts Bill [HL] 20 Payment of fines and other sums 21 Disclosure of information for calculating fees of courts, tribunals etc 22 Enabling the making, and use, of films and other recordings of proceedings Community and other non-custodial sentencing 23 Community and other non-custodial sentencing of adults PART 3 MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL Border control 24 Appeals against refusal of entry clearance to visit the UK 25 Restriction on right of appeal from within the United Kingdom 26 Powers of immigration officers Drugs and driving 27 Drugs and driving General 28 Orders and regulations 29 Consequential amendments 30 Transitional, transitory or saving provision 31 Short title, commencement and extent Schedule 1 — The NCA & NCA officers Part 1 — The NCA Part 2 — NCA officers Schedule 2 — The framework document & annual report Part 1 — The framework document Part 2 — The annual report Schedule 3 — Relationships between NCA and other agencies Part 1 — Co-operation Part 2 — Exchange of information Part 3 — Assistance within the UK Part 4 — Use of police facilities etc by NCA Part 5 — Payment for tasks, assistance or facilities Part 6 — General Schedule 4 — NCA: general Schedule 5 — Police, customs and immigration powers Part 1 — Director General: Commissioners’ powers exercisable under section 9(1) Part 2 — Director General: designation under section 9 Part 3 — Further provision about designations under section 9 or 10 Part 4 — Designations: powers and privileges of constables Part 5 — Designations: powers of officers of Revenue and Customs Part 6 — Designations: powers of immigration officers Crime and Courts Bill [HL] iii Part 7 — Offences relating to designations Part 8 — General Schedule 6 — Inspections and complaints Part 1 — Inspections Part 2 — Complaints: other amendments Schedule 7 — Information: restrictions on disclosure Part 1 — Statutory restrictions Part 2 — Restrictions on disclosures of particular types of information Part 3 — Restrictions on disclosures of information relating to PCA 2002 Part 4 — Restrictions on further disclosures of information Part 5 — Offences relating to wrongful disclosure of information Part 6 — General Schedule 8 — Abolition of SOCA and NPIA Part 1 — Transitional, transitory and saving provision Part 2 — Minor and consequential amendments and repeals Schedule 9 — Single county court in England and Wales Part 1 — Amendments of the County Courts Act 1984 Part 2 — Other amendments Part 3 — Consequential repeals Schedule 10 — The family court Part 1 — Establishment of the family court Part 2 — The family court: further amendments Part 3 — Repeals and revocations in consequence of Parts 1 and 2 of this Schedule Schedule 11 — Transfer of jurisdiction to family court Part 1 — Amendments of enactments Part 2— Repeals and revocations in consequence of Part 1 of this Schedule Schedule 12 — Judicial appointments Part 1 — Judges of the Supreme Court: number and selection Part 2 — Diversity Part 3 — Judicial Appointments Commission Part 4 — Judicial appointments: selection, and transfer of powers of Lord Chancellor Part 5 — Abolition of office of assistant Recorder Schedule 13 — Deployment of the judiciary Part 1 — Deployment under section 9 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 Part 2 — Deployment of judges to the Crown Court Part 3 — Deployment of judges to the magistrates’ courts Part 4 — Deployment of judges to the First-tier Tribunal and the Upper Tribunal Part 5 — Deployment of judges to the Employment Appeal Tribunal Part 6 — Deployment of judges to the employment tribunals Schedule 14 — Powers of immigration officers: further provision Part 1 — General Part 2 — Modification of applied enactments Part 3 — Scotland Schedule 15 — Drugs and driving: minor and consequential amendments Schedule 16 — Super-affirmative procedure Crime and Courts Bill [HL] 1 Part 1 — The National Crime Agency A BILL TO Establish, and make provision about, the National Crime Agency; to abolish the Serious Organised Crime Agency and the National Policing Improvement Agency; to make provision about the judiciary and the structure, administration, proceedings and powers of courts and tribunals; to make provision about border control; to make provision about drugs and driving; and for connected purposes. E IT ENACTED by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present BParliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:— PART 1 THE NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY The NCA and its officers 1 The National Crime Agency (1) A National Crime Agency, consisting of the NCA officers, is to be formed. 5 (2) The NCA is to be under the direction and control of one of the NCA officers, who is to be known as the Director General of the National Crime Agency. (3) The NCA is to have— (a) the functions conferred by this section; (b) the functions conferred by the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002; and 10 (c) the other functions conferred by this Act and by other enactments. (4) The NCA is to have the function (the “crime-reduction function”) of securing that efficient and effective activities to combat organised crime and serious crime are carried out (whether by the NCA, other law enforcement agencies, or other persons). 15 HL Bill 4 55/2 2 Crime and Courts Bill [HL] Part 1 — The National Crime Agency (5) The NCA is to have the function (the “criminal intelligence function”) of gathering, storing, processing, analysing, and disseminating information that is relevant to any of the following— (a) activities to combat organised crime or serious crime; (b) activities to combat any other kind of crime; 5 (c) exploitation proceeds investigations (within the meaning of section 341(5) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002), exploitation proceeds orders (within the meaning of Part 7 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009), and applications for such orders. (6) The NCA must discharge the crime-reduction function in the following ways 10 (in particular). (7) The first way is by the NCA itself— (a) preventing and detecting organised crime and serious crime, (b) investigating offences relating to organised crime or serious crime, and (c) otherwise carrying out activities to combat organised crime and serious 15 crime, including by instituting criminal proceedings in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. (8) The second way is by the NCA securing that activities to combat organised crime or serious crime are carried out by persons other than the NCA. (9) The third way is by the NCA securing improvements— 20 (a) in co-operation between persons who carry out activities to combat organised crime or serious crime, and (b) in co-ordination of activities to combat organised crime or serious crime. (10) The crime-reduction function does not include— 25 (a) the function of the NCA itself prosecuting offences; or (b) the function of the NCA itself instituting criminal proceedings in Scotland. (11) In this Part, a reference to activities to combat crime (or a particular kind of crime, such as organised crime or serious crime) is a reference to— 30 (a) the prevention and detection of crime (or that kind of crime), (b) the investigation and prosecution of offences (or offences relating to that kind of crime), (c) the reduction of crime (or that kind of crime) in other ways, and (d) the mitigation of the consequences of crime (or that kind of crime); 35 and references to the carrying out of activities to combat crime (or a particular kind of crime) are to be construed accordingly. (12) Schedule 1 (the NCA & NCA officers) has effect. 2 Modification of NCA functions (1) The Secretary of State may, by order, make— 40 (a) provision about NCA counter-terrorism functions (and, in particular, may make provision conferring, removing, or otherwise modifying such functions); and (b) other provision which the Secretary of State considers necessary in consequence of provision made under paragraph (a) (and, in particular, 45 Crime and Courts Bill [HL] 3 Part 1 — The National Crime Agency may make provision about the functions of any person other than the NCA, including provision conferring or otherwise modifying, but not removing, such functions). (2) If an order under this section confers an NCA counter-terrorism function, an NCA officer may only carry out activities in Northern Ireland for the purpose 5 of the discharge of the function if the NCA officer does so with the agreement of the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. (3) That includes cases where an order under this section confers an NCA counter- terrorism function by the modification of a function.