Part of Proceeds of Crime Bill – in a Public Bill Committee am 4:15 pm ar 24 Ionawr 2002.
Mark Lazarowicz
Labour/Co-operative, Edinburgh North and Leith
4:15,
24 Ionawr 2002
On reading the terms of the Amendment, I wonder whether the hon. Gentleman fully appreciates
its consequences. As I see it, it would restrict criminal conduct to indictable conduct. Given that the proposed new section interprets criminal conduct for the purposes of that part alone, the effect of the amendment would surely be to restrict the exemptions available to officers of the law who undertake criminal acts as part of their normal duties. That would criminalise activity by law enforcement officers. We have already heard how the hon. Gentleman is soft on criminals, but being tough on law officers is perhaps going a bit too far.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
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Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
