73 House of Commons Thursday 15 January 2015 PUBLIC BILL COMMITTEE New Amendments handed in are marked thus Amendments which will comply with the required notice period at their next appearance SERIOUS CRIME BILL [LORDS] NOTE The Amendments have been arranged in accordance with the Order of the Committee [13 January 2015]. Mr Elfyn Llwyd 37 Clause 50,page43, line 35, leave out “on the balance of probabilities” and insert “beyond reasonable doubt”. Mr Elfyn Llwyd 38 Clause 50,page44, line 5, leave out “doing anything described in the injunction” and insert “engaging in, or encouraging or assisting, gang-related violence or gang-related drug-dealing activity;”. Mr Elfyn Llwyd 39 Clause 50,page44, line 7, leave out “described in the injunction” and insert “which will protect the respondent from gang-related violence or gang-related drug dealing activity”. 74 Public Bill Committee: 15 January 2015 Serious Crime Bill-[Lords], continued Mr Elfyn Llwyd 40 Clause 65,page53, line 6, at end insert— “( ) In that subsection, for “under that age” substitute “under 18””. NEW CLAUSES Karen Bradley NC7 To move the following Clause— “Exemption from civil liability for money-laundering disclosures In section 338 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (money laundering: authorised disclosures), after subsection (4) insert— “(4A) Where an authorised disclosure is made in good faith, no civil liability arises in respect of the disclosure on the part of the person by or on whose behalf it is made.”” Member’s explanatory statement This New Clause makes express statutory provision to protect persons (for example, financial institutions and lawyers) who report in good faith their suspicion that another person is engaged in money laundering activity (in accordance with Part 7 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002) from incurring civil liability for doing so. Karen Bradley NC8 To move the following Clause— “Sexual communication with a child After section 15 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 insert— “15A Sexual communication with a child (1) A person aged 18 or over (A) commits an offence if— (a) for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification, A intentionally communicates with another person (B), (b) the communication is sexual or is intended to encourage B to make (whether to A or to another) a communication that is sexual, and (c) B is under 16 and A does not reasonably believe that B is 16 or over. (2) For the purposes of this section, a communication is sexual if— (a) any part of it relates to sexual activity, or Public Bill Committee: 15 January 2015 75 Serious Crime Bill-[Lords], continued (b) a reasonable person would, in all the circumstances but regardless of any person’s purpose, consider any part of the communication to be sexual; and in paragraph (a) “sexual activity” means an activity that a reasonable person would, in all the circumstances but regardless of any person’s purpose, consider to be sexual. (3) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable— (a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine or both; (b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years.”” Member’s explanatory statement This New Clause provides for a new offence where an adult communicates with a child under 16 for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification and the communication is sexual or intended to encourage a sexual response. The offence would be triable either way with a maximum penalty (on conviction on indictment) of two years’ imprisonment. Karen Bradley NC9 To move the following Clause— “Controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship (1) A person (A) commits an offence if— (a) A repeatedly or continuously engages in behaviour towards another person (B) that is controlling or coercive, (b) at the time of the behaviour, A and B are personally connected, (c) the behaviour has a serious effect on B, and (d) A knows or ought to know that the behaviour will have a serious effect on B. (2) A and B are “personally connected” if— (a) A is in an intimate personal relationship with B, or (b) A and B live together and— (i) they are members of the same family, or (ii) they have previously been in an intimate personal relationship with each other. (3) But A does not commit an offence under this section if at the time of the behaviour in question— (a) A has responsibility for B, for the purposes of Part 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 (see section 17 of that Act), and (b) B is under 16. (4) A’s behaviour has a “serious effect” on B if— (a) it causes B to fear, on at least two occasions, that violence will be used against B, or (b) it causes B serious alarm or distress which has a substantial adverse effect on B’s usual day-to-day activities. (5) For the purposes of subsection (1)(d) A “ought to know” that which a reasonable person in possession of the same information would know. 76 Public Bill Committee: 15 January 2015 Serious Crime Bill-[Lords], continued (6) For the purposes of subsection (2)(b)(i) A and B are members of the same family if— (a) they are, or have been, married to each other; (b) they are, or have been, civil partners of each other; (c) they are relatives; (d) they have agreed to marry one another (whether or not the agreement has been terminated); (e) they have entered into a civil partnership agreement (whether or not the agreement has been terminated); (f) they are both parents of the same child; (g) they have, or have had, parental responsibility for the same child. (7) In subsection (6)— “civil partnership agreement” has the meaning given by section 73 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004; “child” means a person under the age of 18 years; “parental responsibility” has the same meaning as in the Children Act 1989; “relative” has the meaning given by section 63(1) of the Family Law Act 1996. (8) In proceedings for an offence under this section it is a defence for A to show that— (a) in engaging in the behaviour in question, A believed that he or she was acting in B’s best interests, and (b) the behaviour was in all the circumstances reasonable. (9) A is to be taken to have shown the facts mentioned in subsection (8) if— (a) sufficient evidence of the facts is adduced to raise an issue with respect to them, and (b) the contrary is not proved beyond reasonable doubt. (10) The defence in subsection (8) is not available to A in relation to behaviour that causes B to fear that violence will be used against B. (11) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable— (a) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or a fine, or both; (b) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or a fine, or both.” Member’s explanatory statement This New Clause provides for a new offence criminalising controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship. The new offence would be triable either way with a maximum penalty (on conviction on indictment) of five years’ imprisonment. Karen Bradley NC10 To move the following Clause— “Guidance (1) The Secretary of State may issue guidance about the investigation of offences under section (Controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship) to whatever persons the Secretary of State considers appropriate. Public Bill Committee: 15 January 2015 77 Serious Crime Bill-[Lords], continued (2) The Secretary of State may revise any guidance issued under this section. (3) The Secretary of State must arrange for any guidance issued or revised under this section to be published.” Member’s explanatory statement This New Clause confers a power on the Secretary of State to issue guidance about the investigation of offences under New Clause (NC9) [Controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship]. Karen Bradley NC11 To move the following Clause— “Prevention or restriction of use of communication devices by prisoners etc (1) Regulations may make provision conferring power on a court to make a telecommunications restriction order. (2) “Telecommunications restriction order” means an order requiring a communications provider to take whatever action the order specifies for the purpose of preventing or restricting the use of communication devices by persons detained in custodial institutions. (3) Regulations under this section must— (a) specify who may apply for telecommunications restriction orders; (b) make provision about giving notice of applications; (c) make provision conferring rights on persons to make representations; (d) specify the matters about which the court must be satisfied if it is to make an order; (e) make provision about the duration of orders (which may include provision for orders of indefinite duration); (f) make provision about variation (including extension) and discharge of orders; (g) make provision about appeals. (4) Regulations under this section may— (a) make provision for a telecommunications restriction order to specify that a requirement of the order is not to apply in particular circumstances; (b) make provision authorising a court to include in an order a requirement for the person applying for the order to pay any or all of the costs of complying with it; (c) make provision about time limits for complying with orders; (d) make provision about enforcement of orders (which may include provision creating offences); (e) make provision about costs (or, in Scotland, expenses) in respect of legal proceedings; (f) make different provision for different purposes; (g) make incidental, consequential, supplementary or transitional provision, including provision applying any enactment (with or without modifications).