HC Deb 26 May 1971 vol 818 cc517-8

Lords Amendment: No. 4, in page 16, line 28, leave out subsection (1).

Mr. Sharples

I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.

During the passage of the Bill, research into the relevant treaty provisions—that is, Article 36 of the Penal Provisions of the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961—revealed that the reference to an "act preparatory to" goes back to a convention of 1936 for the suppression of traffic in illicit drugs.

The words were intended to help those countries which had no developed juristic system to deal with attempts and conspiracies to commit offences. With the extension of modern systems of administration throughout the world, there is now less need for this kind of help than formerly. In any event, subsection (1) is not essential for the strict implementation of the Single Convention.

Mr. Elystan Morgan

Again, I wholeheartedly agree with the Minister. The words "act preparatory to" could have had very little, if any, meaning in English law. They certainly do not encompass an attempt or incitement, and I am sure that it was necessary that they should be exorcised.

Question put and agreed to

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