§ 139 Clause 91, page 65, line 30, leave out 'specified,' to 'and' in line 36 and insert 'this Part of this Act shall apply to external confiscation orders'.
§ 140 Page 65, line 37, leave out from 'proceedings' to 'there' in line 39 and insert 'which have been or arc to be instituted in the designated country and may result in an external confiscation order being made'.
§ 141 Page 66, line 5, leave out 'and which arc retained there shall nevertheless' and insert 'shall'.
§ 142 Page 66, line 7, at end insert—
§
'(1A) In this Part of this Act
external confiscation order" means an order made by a court in a designated country for the purpose—
"modifications" includes additions, alterations and omissions.'.
§ 143 Page 66, line 9, at end insert—
§ '(2A) The power to make an Order in Council under this section includes power to modify this Part of this Act in such a way as to confer power on a person to exercise a discretion.
§ 144 Clause 93, page 66, line 40, at end insert—
§ '(2) In subsection (1) above "constable" includes a police officer engaged on central service (as defined in section 43(5) of the Police Act 1964).'
§ 145 Clause 95, page 68, line 20, at end insert 'not below the rank of senior executive officer'.
§ 146 Page 68, line 46, at end insert—
§ '(6) The references to senior executive officers in subsection (2) above include reference to equivalent departmental grades.
§ '(7) This section shall cease to have effect on the day appointed under section 3(2) of the Land Registration Act 1988 for the coming into force of that Act'.'
§ 147 Clause 96, leave out Clause 96 and insert the following new clause:
§ Abolition of power to make criminal bankruptcy order
§ '—(1) The power to make a criminal bankruptcy order which section 39 of the Powers of Criminal Court Act 1973 confers on the Crown Court is abolished.
§ (2) Nothing in subsection (1) above—
- (a) shall affect any criminal bankruptcy order made before this section comes into force; or
- (b) shall prevent the taking of any step following such an order.'.
§ 148 Clause 97, page 70, line 6, leave out 'in England and Wales'
§ 149 Page 70, line 19, leave out from 'Proceedings' to first 'the' in line 29 and insert 'are concluded—
- (a) When (disregarding any power of a court to grant leave to appeal out of time) there is no further possibility of a confiscation order being made in the proceedings;
- (b) on'.
Earl FerrersMy Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 139 to 149 en bloc. These amendments are consequential upon Amendment No. 123 to which I spoke earlier. I beg to move.
§ Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 139 to 149. —(Earl Ferrers.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.
§ COMMONS AMENDMENT
§ 150 Clause 104, page 75, line 20, at end insert—
§ '(1A) Harm to a person's mental condition is only a criminal injury if it is attributable—
- (a) to his having been put in fear of immediate physical injury to himself or another; or
- (b) to his being present when another sustained a criminal injury other than harm to his mental condition;
Earl FerrersMy Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 150. At the same time, I should like to speak to Amendment No. 159.
Amendment No. 150 clarifies the basis for compensation for mental harm and extends eligibility to cover a person who, though present at the scene of the crime, was not placed in immediate fear of injury. The revised wording meets concern expressed by the noble Lord, Lord Irvine of Lairg, during the Report stage of the proceedings in this House. He pointed out that the provision as drafted would not cover a person present at the scene of the crime who did not see the attack coming and was not put in fear of immediate physical injury.
1621 Amendment No. 159 is a consequential drafting amendment. I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Irvine of Lairg, will approve these amendments.
§ Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 150.—(Earl Ferrers.)
§ Lord Irvine of LairgMy Lords, the noble Earl, Lord Ferrers, observed when I spoke to Amendments Nos. 132 to 137 that my welcome to them was somewhat cautious. I wholeheartedly welcome the amendments which the noble Earl has just mentioned.
The Bill was wholly inadequate as it was originally drafted, but the effect of the changes which have been made, and especially of new Clause 104(1A)(b), is to bring the jurisdiction of the board much more into line with the practice of the courts in dealing with nervous shock in personal injury cases and to remove some of the serious anomalies to which the original wording would have led. To us on these Benches it appears that the Government have gone as far as we urged in this House.
§ Lord RentonMy Lords, I hope that I have my mind on the point. I wish to make a comment with regard to Amendment No. 150, which states:
Harm to a person's mental condition is only a criminal injury if it is attributable",and then two factors are mentioned.Earlier we considered Amendment No. 182 dealing with torture, which embodies what we have agreed as part of a European convention. I pointed out there that in subsection (3) of the new clause it states:
It is immaterial whether the pain or suffering is physical or mental and whether it is caused by an act or an omission".Here we find that harm to a person's mental condition is defined as relating to its being a criminal injury. One must assume that what is written into one part of statute affects another part. That is a well-known principle of interpretation of statutes. It does not worry me that subsection(3) of the new clause in Amendment No. 182 is to be interpreted in the light of Amendment No. 150. Indeed, that may well be the best thing. However, it seems to be a modification. This is very much a technical matter of interpretation for the judges who are sitting on criminal cases.Not having given notice to my noble friend Lord Ferrers, it would not be right to ask him to comment. However, we should take note in passing that these two provisions will have to be read together.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.