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Police and Justice Bill

moved AmendmentNo. 171B: Page 32, line 10, leave out from beginning to ““subsection”” in line 11 and insert- ““(1) In the Computer Misuse Act 1990 (c. 18) (““the 1990 Act””), section 1 is amended as follows. (2) In subsection (1)- (a) in paragraph (a), after ““any computer”” there is inserted ““, or to enable any such access to be secured””; (b) in paragraph (b), after ““secure”” there is inserted ““, or to enable to be secured,””. (3) For”” The noble Lord said: Before I get into the body of my comments, I should like to say that I welcome that the noble Earl, Lord Northesk, has tabled Amendments Nos. 172, 174 and 176 to reflect the fact that further changes need to be made to the Computer Misuse Act 1990, to ensure that all forms of computer hacking are outlawed. We have been informally consulting on making changes almost identical to the ones that he has identified. He may tell me otherwise, but I understand that his Amendments Nos. 172 and 174 contain slight drafting errors. We have therefore decided to table separate versions of his amendments, Amendments Nos. 171B and 173A. Section 1 of the 1990 Act makes it an offenceto access a computer without authority. The amendments would extend this to include enabling access to be gained without authority. We share the noble Earl’s belief that the proposed amendments are important because there is a ready criminal market in software tools to gain unauthorised access to others’ computers. The intent is therefore to ensure thatan offence would be committed where the person’s intention is merely to enable someone else to secure unauthorised access—or, for that matter, to enable the person himself to secure unauthorised access at some later time. The proposed amendments to Section 3 of the Act would clarify that a person can commit a Section 3 offence by being reckless as to whether, for example, a computer will be impaired, although impairment was not his intent. The amendments will also make it an offence for a person to commit an unauthorised act in relation to a computer with the intent of enabling a person to commit a Section 3 offence. We must make it absolutely clear that it will not be a defence to suggest that the intention was not to impair the operation of a computer. It is enough that the act was unauthorised and that, by committing such an act, there was recklessness as to whether the act could have caused impairment to the operation of a computer. We must also ensure that it is understood that enabling a person to commit a Section 3 offence is an offence in its own right. Government Amendments Nos. 178A, 178B and 178C make transitional provisions to ensure that the proposed changes to the Computer Misuse Act do not impact on offences committed before this Bill comes into force. We have also made amendments to Schedule 15 with Amendments Nos. 193A, 193B and 193C, which are consequential to amendments made to Clause 39. I look forward to hearing what the noble Earl has to say about his amendments. I trust that he will feel able to withdraw them and that he will be content to support those that stand in the name of the Government. I beg to move.