§ Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbottsasked Her Majesty's Government:
Under paragraphs 5(4)(a) and (b) of the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002, how long a period will be allowed to elapse in each case before the enforcement authority may take the measures referred to in paragraph 5(1). [HL875]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville)Regulation 5 of SI 2002 No 2013 enables UK enforcement authorities to take action against online service providers established in other EEA member states on a case by case basis where there is a grave and serious risk to public policy, in particular crime prevention or investigation, public health, public security or consumer protection. Use of this derogation is subject to certain conditions. Among other things, enforcement authorities must normally first ask the member state concerned to take action, and can only proceed with the action if the member state concerned does not, for whatever reason, take enforcement action itself or it is inadequate.
Neither the directive nor the UK implementing regulations specify how much time the other member state concerned must be given to act. However, in emergency cases enforcement authorities are able to bypass the prior request requirement and take action immediately.