HL Deb 29 February 1988 vol 494 cc84-6

8.10 p.m.

The Earl of Arran rose to move, That the draft order laid before the House on 4th February be approved [l5th Report from the Joint Committee].

The noble Earl said: My Lords, this Order in Council would complete the arrangements by which the courts are able to recover the proceeds of drug trafficking throughout England, Wales and Scotland. The order has been considered by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments.

I have no need to remind your Lordships of the grave menace posed by drug trafficking, nor of the misery and squalor inflicted by those unscrupulous people who seek to profit from it. We believe that to deny the drug trafficker the proceeds of his trade is one of the most effective weapons against this evil.

The necessary powers to do that were first introduced in the Drug Trafficking Offences Act 1986, which has been in force since 12th January 1987. Soon after its enactment my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Scotland introduced legislation to enable the courts in Scotland to exercise comparable powers in their Jurisdiction. Like the Drug Trafficking Offences Act, this legislation was welcomed on all sides of the House. My right honourable friend intends to bring these provisions into force on 1st April 1988.

This order contains the provisions needed to enable orders made by courts in Scotland under the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1987 to have effect and, if necessary, to be enforced in England and Wales. The order has been drafted so as to mirror very closely the provisions already in operation for giving effect in Scotland to orders made by the courts in England and Wales. The essence of the scheme is that orders in one jurisdiction should have automatic effect in the other but should be enforceable in the other jurisdiction. This ensures that cross-Border arrangements can operate without unnecessary inhibition, while at the same time the independence of each jurisdiction is respected.

Article 3 is the key provision. It provides that restraint orders and other orders connected with the restraint or realisation of property made by the Court of Session in Scotland are to have automatic effect in England and Wales. Thus for example, where the Court of Session makes a restraint order preventing a suspected drug trafficker from disposing of his assets, that will automatically apply to his property in England and Wales as well as to any in Scotland. However, for the order to be enforced in England and Wales it must first he registered in the English High Court, which then has the power to enforce the order as if it were an order of its own. For example, the High Court could take proceedings for contempt of a registered order made by the Court of Session. The provision for registration of orders is contained in Article 4.

Article 5 is worth pausing on for a moment. It ensures that the important safeguards governing the Court of Session's powers to restrain and realise property will also apply when those powers are given effect in England and Wales. The High Court will be bound by the principles set out in Section 23 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1987. Those require the power to be exercised with a view to securing the satisfaction of a confiscation order and, in relation to third parties who have received gifts from the defendant in a drug trafficking case, to realising from them no more than the value of the gifts they received.

I commend the order to your Lordships. If approved and made, the Order in Council will complete the arrangements whereby court orders for the restraint and confiscation of the proceeds of drug trafficking will he effective throughout Great Britain, no matter whether they were made originally in England and Wales or in Scotland. That is an objective to which I am sure your Lordships will lend full approval. I beg to move.

Moved, That the draft order laid before the House on 4th February be approved [15th Report from the Joint Committee.]

Lord Mishcon

My Lords, anything that we on this side of the House can do to punish, in justice, those who indulge in the evil trade of drug trafficking will be done, and the Government are assured of that. The order sensibly means that cross-Border orders can be made effective in regard to the confiscation of the ill-gotten gains made in this dreadful trade. It is a sensible order. We also commend it to the House.

The Earl of Arran

My Lords, I am obviously grateful that the noble Lord is in full agreement with the order. I should just like to conclude by saying that the chances of defeating the menace of drug trafficking can only be improved by the Order in Council. It will ensure that measures to deprive the traffickers of their proceeds are effective throughout England, Wales and Scotland. That is a most important objective. Therefore, I am sure that your Lordships will give it your full assent.

On Question, Motion agreed to.