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Terrorism Bill

moved Amendment No. 103:"Page 17, line 32, at end insert—" ““(c)   may be instituted in Scotland only with the consent of the Lord Advocate”” The noble and learned Lord said: The amendment would add a further paragraph to subsection (1), which would provide that in Scotland proceedings for any offence under this part of the Bill, which includes Clause 1, 2 and onwards, may be instituted in Scotland only with the consent of the Lord Advocate. It is important to bear in mind that the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has no similar office in Scotland. The Lord Advocate is the head of the system of prosecution and investigation of crimes in Scotland and is, of course, a Scottish Minister. Furthermore, I should add that he has statutory power to instruct the police in the investigation and reporting of crime under Section 17 of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967 and Section 12 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. For the system of prosecution in Scotland, serious crimes are indicted in his name and are prosecuted in the High Court by advocates depute who hold his commission and, in the sheriff’s court, by procurators fiscal, who are permanent prosecutors, but procurators fiscal also prosecute summary offences in the sheriff’s court by way of complaints laid by them without reference to the Lord Advocate. In the clause, there are two parts concerning proceedings in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In subsection (1), proceedings,"““ may be instituted in England and Wales only with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions””," and similarly in Northern Ireland. Subsection (2) deals with an offence,"““committed for a purpose wholly or partly connected with the affairs of the country other than the United Kingdom””." In that case, the Attorney-General must give permission in the case of England and Wales and the Advocate General for Northern Ireland. There is no difficulty in Scotland, in the sense that all offences, whether they be offences of the kind covered by subsection (1) or (2), would be subject to the overall responsibility of the Lord Advocate. The important thing is that the Bill provides that certain of the offences can be prosecuted summarily—that is to say, in the sheriff’s court by procurators fiscal who would lay a complaint and would not be required to refer the matter to the Lord Advocate. I have no doubt that it will be said in response, ““Ah, yes, but the Lord Advocate can give directions in such matters””. But in a Bill such as this, in which there is a very important public interest, it should be made absolutely plain that all proceedings in Scotland proceed with the consent of the Lord Advocate. That would mean not only indictments, which would in any case proceed in his name, but those matters that were dealt with summarily, many of which could well raise important or delicate issues that could require his consent. It is with that in mind that the amendment has been drafted. I beg to move.