§ Ms HewittI beg to move amendment No. 1, in page 6, line 34, leave out "certified either" and insert—
made a statement confirming that".
§ Mr. Deputy SpeakerWith this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Government amendments Nos. 2 and 3.
§ Ms HewittDuring the second sitting of the Standing Committee, on 14 December, I indicated to hon. Members that, with the help of parliamentary counsel, I would re-examine the drafting of subsection (3). I have done so and thus have pleasure in introducing amendments Nos. 1, 2 and 3.
173 In Committee, the debate on this subsection focused on the certification process, under which, in public key cryptography, the public key of an individual is certified as belonging to him or her. The debate also touched on the language that was used in the subsection, especially the use of the word "certified". The amendments will help to clarify both those matters.
Amendment No. 1 seeks to replace the words "certified either" with the phrase
made a statement confirming that".That phrase is slightly longer, but will make it clear that we are talking about what a person will want to establish, rather than about a specific technical process. By avoiding the use of the word "certified", we shall avoid the confusion, which we came across in Committee, between the IT industry's use of the words "certified" and "certificate", and the legal, or parliamentary draftsman's, use of the words.Amendments Nos. 2 and 3 address the other issue raised in Committee in amendment No. 51—whether evidence of the certification of a public key was admissible under clause 7. The wording in the new amendments will put the matter beyond doubt. Amendment No. 2 specifically includes the verification of the signature in those matters deemed to be admissible under subsection (3)(b). That verification is, of course, performed by the public key.
Amendment No. 3 makes it clear that any one of those processes or procedures is admissible in its own right, as well as when it is combined with other facts. I hope that that explanation is entirely comprehensible to Opposition Members; I commend the amendments to the House.
§ Mr. DuncanOnce again, the Government amendments support the amendments that we tabled in Committee, about which I wrote to the Minister on 5 January. As she rightly points out, the main concern arises from the fact that, as we confront new technology and try to embody in law provisions that relate to it, we run out of accurate words to describe what the legislation is supposed to mean. As the reports of the Standing Committee show, our concern is that the word "certified" became ambiguous as it was used through the Bill, and hence legally unclear.
We wanted an alternative phrase or verb to replace the word "certified" in the clause so that that ambiguity could be removed. At one point, I discussed with the Minister the use of the word "validated". However, I accept that the phrasing of the amendments covers what we meant by "validated", or the meaning that we wanted to be attributed to "certified". We support the amendment; it achieves what we asked the Minister for. I hope that it will receive the support of both sides of the House.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendments made: No. 2, in page 6, line 36, leave out
the means of producing or communicatingand insert—a means of producing, communicating or verifying".No. 3, in page 6, line 38, leave out "as" and insert—is (either alone or in combination with other factors)".—[Ms Hewitt.]