---

Serious Crime Bill [HL]

I said in answer to the noble Lord, Lord Thomas, that it is not proposed that these issues should relate to house arrest. We are looking at a specific methodology adopted by a criminal, and we are asking the High Court to do two things. Under Clause 1(1)(a), to make an order the court has to be, "““satisfied that a person has been involved in serious crime (whether in England and Wales or elsewhere)””," and it has to have, "““reasonable grounds to believe that the order would protect the public by preventing, restricting or disrupting involvement by the person in serious crime in England and Wales””." That enables the court to target the condition to address the mischief complained of. One of the difficulties with which the court will be faced is that, because the nature of the criminal activity that any particular individual may be involved in will differ, the tool that you will need to use with regard to criminal A may be significantly different from the tool you will need for criminal B, who may be engaged in a totally different type of crime. We must make sure that those provisions are fit for purpose.