CIVIL LIABILITY FOR SMUGGLING (Hansard, 11 March 1970)

§ Mr. Goronwy Roberts
I beg to move Amendment No. 35, in page 20, line 30, leave out 'commits' and insert: 'is found in civil proceedings before a court in the United Kingdom to have committed'.

§ Mr. Speaker
I suggest that with this Amendment the House should discuss, also, Amendment No. 36.

§ Mr. Roberts
Following discussion of the Clause in Committee, I have looked at this matter again, particularly in the light of the very helpful comments of the hon. and learned Member for Darwen (Mr. Fletcher-Cooke). He drew attention to the difficulty which might be experienced in relation to convictions in foreign courts. I think that it would be right if we did not specify in the Clause convictions in criminal proceedings as an antecedent to liability for making good any loss or expense caused by the act of smuggling. It will in any case be necessary for civil proceedings to be taken in the United Kingdom in order to establish a claim for compensation.
I commend the Amendment to the House. If any hon. Member wants fur- 1478 ther explanation of the argument behind the Amendment, I will give an explanation, although I do not say that I shall be delighted to do so.

§ Mr. Fletcher-Cooke
I suggested this in Committee. I expressed the Opposition's gratitude for the Minister's acceptance of this point. It is not every foreign court whose decision we would wish to accept automatically. That is the principle behind the Amendment.