Part of Proceeds of Crime Bill – in a Public Bill Committee am 12:00 pm ar 29 Ionawr 2002.
Mark Field
Ceidwadwyr, Cities of London and Westminster
12:00,
29 Ionawr 2002
It is evident from earlier exchanges that I am no great friend of lawyers' professional privilege—although my hon. Friend the Member for Beaconsfield has made it clear that that privilege is intended to protect clients, rather than lawyers.
The Minister quoted from the 1987 Act, but the corresponding part of the Bill is worded differently. I have a concern, which might not have been considered, about the burden that may be placed on a lawyer to produce material. If a money laundering scam involving large amounts of paperwork is operating from a residential address, I am concerned that the wording may place a strong obligation on a lawyer to produce material. The lawyer may be required to produce all the material, and that could include reams of headed notepaper that need not necessarily be in his possession at any one time. The wording of the 1987 Act takes account of what the Minister wants to achieve, without putting that additional obligation on a lawyer.
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.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
