Clause 337 - Further provisions

Part of Proceeds of Crime Bill – in a Public Bill Committee am 12:15 pm ar 29 Ionawr 2002.

Danfonwch hysbysiad imi am ddadleuon fel hyn

Photo of Bob Ainsworth Bob Ainsworth The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department 12:15, 29 Ionawr 2002

It does not fall only under the provisions for disclosure orders. That is the reason for the duplication and the change of words. The hon. Member for Beaconsfield suggested that we could rely on clause 350 alone to allow us to do what is required. That clause deals with disclosure orders and uses the same words as the previous legislation, as he rightly said, because disclosure orders require information to be disclosed. Disclosure orders are, by their nature, more intrusive than production orders, and later in an investigation, the issuing of and compliance with a production order could lead to a demand for a disclosure order.

We are introducing the requirement for a solicitor to be obliged to reveal information. My hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Ian Lucas) was correct that we use the word ''only'' in the text of the provision for a production order. We do not want to encourage people to go down the road of using a disclosure order unnecessarily.

A production order relates to the production of material. The only reason why material is mentioned is to put it in context. The order obliges the release of information that contains the name and address only. It is a separate provision; a disclosure order is more intrusive than a production order.

We are not opening up anything by using the word ''material''. However, as my hon. Friend the Member for Redcar suggests, I shall check that nothing unintended arises from the use of the word.

The hon. Gentleman said that he intends to press the amendment to a vote unless I tell him something about a lawyer's right to refuse. All these powers of investigation have judicial oversight. Therefore, the justification for the issuing of an order—whether it is a disclosure order, production order or anything else—must be approved. If that encourages him to vote against the measure, so be it. There is a need to be open. If a production order is approved, it must be complied with. There would not necessarily be a provision that the hon. Gentleman suggests for a lawyer to suggest that he should not be obliged to disclose information that contains a name and address.