UK and Gibraltar Prosecuting Authorities

Wednesday 3rd December 2014 Westminster Hall

10:59

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship today, Mr Crausby, and to have this important and very topical debate on the relationship between the UK and the British overseas territory of Gibraltar on prosecution and law enforcement matters. I refer at the outset to my relevant interests in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

As many Members will know, Gibraltar is a fully self-governing and self-funding British overseas territory. It adheres entirely to the British system and rule of law, and it is the contention of this debate and worth restating that it meets the highest United Kingdom and international standards in all respects. It is a small country, but it is proud to be British. Part of that British heritage is its strong legal system, entirely based upon our own common law.

[Bob Stewart (Beckenham) (Con)]

I thank my very hon. Friend for giving way. I want to reinforce his point by saying that not only is the legal system very good indeed, but the police and defence forces are outstanding. I speak from personal experience, having worked with them.

[Robert Neill]

I am most grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point, particularly given his experience in that sphere. It certainly coincides entirely with my own.

As well as having a strong economy with growth that most places would envy, Gibraltar has a robust and independent legal system, a thriving legal community, a strong and independent judiciary, as well as an excellent police force, organised and trained to the highest British standards, and associated law enforcement agencies. It has, in particular, a robust prosecution service presided over by the highly experienced and very well regarded Attorney General, Ricky Rhoda, and supported by a team of Crown Counsel who meet the same high standards as would be found in any prosecution department in the United Kingdom. I have had the pleasure on more than one occasion of meeting the senior Crown Counsel, the Attorney General and senior members of the judiciary.

It is against that background that on my last visit to Gibraltar, I was struck by the genuine sense of outrage felt by Gibraltarian citizens at every level that I met, from members of Government through to legal practitioners, down to shopkeepers and the taxi driver who took me up to the Rock hotel one evening—once he found out I was an MP—at comments made in this House, I regret to say, on 30 October by the right hon. Member for Leicester East (Keith Vaz). I am glad to see him in his place. I notified him of my intention to refer to his comments in this debate. They were ill-founded, they have done damage to Gibraltar wrongly and needlessly, and this is a chance to set the record straight.

[Dame Angela Watkinson (Hornchurch and Upminster) (Con)]

I should mention that I am a member of the parliamentary group on Gibraltar. As my hon. Friend will know, Gibraltar is already suffering from gratuitous harassment by the Spanish Government at its border. When this news became public, it gave the Spanish Government another excuse to attack Gibraltar, as it has done in its media. That is having a very serious effect on Gibraltar’s reputation. It is entirely unfair and as we all know, Gibraltar is fiercely loyal to the United Kingdom.

[Robert Neill]

Sadly, my hon. Friend is right. I have seen some of the coverage in the Spanish press. It is gratuitous. Unfortunately, the comments, whatever the intention in making them, have been used to fuel the antagonism that some in the Spanish governing party and other parts of the media feel towards Gibraltar. It is worth saying that, precisely because Gibraltar is a small country with a difficult neighbour, an insult to Gibraltar is felt very personally, even by everyday Gibraltarians. It is not just a matter of Government circles; Gibraltarians feel this individually because every one of them sees the consequence of what happens when misleading information is used against them by their neighbours. For that reason, this debate is important, and it is worth setting out why.

The remarks made by the right hon. Member for Leicester East were in the context of a comment about drugs policy and money laundering. I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for having shown me a letter that he subsequently sent to the Chief Minister, who raised his concerns with the right hon. Gentleman, and I place that on the record. However, the reality is this: the inevitable innuendo in the comments made was that there was a particular issue with Gibraltar and drugs money and money laundering. That is wholly unjustified and untrue, and it is unsupported by any evidence of any kind. In every jurisdiction, we all have to be alert to the issues arising from organised crime, drugs and money laundering. The UK is, and so is Gibraltar, to exactly the same standards as the United Kingdom.

It is worth setting out in some detail, as briefly as I may, the work that Gibraltar has done in this field.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way and for informing me that he was going to raise these comments. This debate seems to be all about the five words that I spoke in the Chamber. As he knows, I wrote to the Chief Minister and I accepted his assurances that Gibraltar’s financial services were absolutely robust. I pointed out that in my speech I made it very clear that there was no criticism of the people or Government of Gibraltar. If he is now reassuring me again in the House that there is no question of any impropriety of any kind, of course we accept that assurance.

[Robert Neill]

I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for making those comments. More important, I hope the people of Gibraltar will be grateful, because unfortunately, once words are said, even perhaps in an uncharacteristically loose manner, much harm is done in this particular context. I not only want to put that on record in the House, but I know that my hon. and learned Friend the Solicitor-General will be able to state the position of the British Government in relation to those matters.

I think the position is this: unfortunately, the comments that the right hon. Gentleman referred to were made on the Floor of the Chamber of this House. They were recorded in Hansard and I am grateful to him for coming along today and withdrawing those comments, again, on the Floor of this House, sitting in Westminster Hall, and on the record in Hansard. That is hugely important to the people of Gibraltar and I am grateful to him for having done that.

Let me set out why that retraction is so important. Gibraltar, throughout recent times, has been fully compliant with all its international obligations. All relevant EU regulations that apply to Gibraltar and all EU directives are transposed into law by Gibraltar’s Parliament. That includes all EU measures on financial supervision and regulation, direct taxation and the fight against money laundering.

Gibraltar has been actively engaged with the OECD on exchange of information arrangements. The OECD and Council of Europe convention on mutual administrative assistance in tax matters has been extended to Gibraltar, and in consequence of a raft of measures, Gibraltar has now, pursuant to various agreements and the convention, exchange of information agreements to the OECD standard with some 77 countries and territories around the world. It has received a glowing review from the OECD on its record of exchange of information. Its overall compliance ratings are in exactly the same league as this country’s and Germany’s. I hope that gives a proper sense of perspective as to the seriousness with which Gibraltar takes these issues.

[Mr Nigel Dodds (Belfast North) (DUP)]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate. With the comments of the right hon. Member for Leicester East (Keith Vaz), it will put on the record the truth of the situation concerning Gibraltar. Does my hon. Friend accept that there is no real evidence from the UK or other EU member states, apart from Spain, which raises its voice from time to time on various issues, of complaints about the way in which the regulatory regime operates in Gibraltar on money laundering or otherwise?

[Robert Neill]

The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Independent monitoring reports state specifically that there have been no instances of failure by Gibraltar to co-operate with any requests by any member organisation. He is totally on the money as far as that is concerned. Gibraltar behaves to exactly the same standards as the United Kingdom. We should be proud of it and congratulate it on that.

It is worth pointing out that Gibraltar has signed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act intergovernmental agreement with the UK and the United States on a commitment to common reporting standards and automatic exchange of information. That now extends to 50 countries, with a further 30 in the process of joining it. Gibraltar has applied the EU savings directive since 2005. Its regulatory law enforcement and intelligence authorities, as my hon. Friend the hon. Member for Beckenham (Bob Stewart) pointed out, work hand in glove with the United Kingdom and other international counterparts in the detection and prevention of crime. Despite the tensions across the border, the Royal Gibraltar police work effectively and well with their counterparts in the Guardia Civil, notwithstanding political interference from time to time from Madrid, and they should be commended for that.

Gibraltar has draconian all-crimes anti-money laundering legislation, systems and administrative practices in place, all of which comply with EU legislation and operate in exactly the same way as in the UK. Its systems have been tested with independent reviews by the Financial Action Task Force, the International Monetary Fund and others, and have been found to comply, not just in theory, but in practice. The Financial Action Task Force recently revised its 40 anti-money laundering principles and Gibraltar is taking those on board and updating its arrangements in the fight against crime in the same way as the United Kingdom. In other words, it meets exactly the same standards in every regard.

[Keith Vaz]

The hon. Gentleman is giving the Chamber a robust account of the prosecution system. Can he confirm that there have been no prosecutions for money laundering in Gibraltar?

[Robert Neill]

That is my understanding, but my hon. and learned Friend the Solicitor-General will be able to deal specifically with that. The fact that we have been successful in such matters is precisely because of the very good arrangements and regulatory systems in place in Gibraltar. It is totally right that we should be alert to the risk of crime, but when good preventative mechanisms are in place and prevent crimes from coming to fruition that is a plus point and we should congratulate Gibraltar on that.

[Dame Angela Watkinson]

Was it not the late right hon. Robin Cook, when Foreign Secretary, who was quoted as saying that Gibraltar was

“the benchmark jurisdiction in terms of legislative and regulatory standards in the fight against money-laundering”?

[Robert Neill]

That is exactly what the then Foreign Secretary said, and I believe the right hon. Member for Leicester East may have been a member of the same Government. Robin Cook was right, and his comment summarises the matter.

[Thomas Docherty (Dunfermline and West Fife) (Lab)]

I regularly meet Gibraltar Ministers through the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and other bodies, and they are always telling me about the robust steps that they have taken in partnership with the UK and Spain to ensure that Gibraltar has the highest standards. Is that the hon. Gentleman’s experience in his conversations with Ministers from Gibraltar?

[Robert Neill]

That is my experience of conversations with Ministers in Gibraltar. It is my experience of conversations with our embassy in Madrid. It is also my experience of conversations with police officers and the senior judiciary in Gibraltar and the senior Crown Counsel and his Department in Gibraltar. It is certainly my experience of conversations with the excellent Attorney General, Ricky Rhoda. All the evidence is clear in such matters. That is a further indication of the permanent and long-running co-operation with the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, the hon. Fabian Picardo QC, who is in London at the moment for a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Council of Overseas Territories. Gibraltar works closely with the UK at every level and to the highest standards, and it moves swiftly.

To allow my hon. and learned Friend the Solicitor-General to respond, I will make my final point. No sooner had this House opted back into some European justice issues, from which we had had an opt-out—the justice and home affairs area—on 1 December, the Government of Gibraltar published a series of regulations to give effect to the same principles and arrangements as those that the UK has now opted into. It could not have moved more swiftly to ensure that it met exactly the same standards as the UK on police, criminal and judicial co-operation, including important matters such as exchange of intelligence and information, mutual recognition of criminal freezing orders, asset recovery confiscation orders and financial penalties. I hope that my hon. and learned Friend the Solicitor-General, who I am delighted to see here today and who is highly experienced in such matters, will be able to confirm that.

I am grateful to the right hon. Member for Leicester East for accepting on the record in this House that any allegations and slurs against Gibraltar were utterly baseless. The people of Gibraltar are entitled to an apology and a correction, and I hope that we have been able to achieve that in this debate and that the Solicitor-General will be able to set out the Government’s position on the excellent co-operation between our two jurisdictions.

11:16

[The Solicitor-General (Mr Robert Buckland)]

It is a pleasure, Mr Crausby, to serve under your chairmanship. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) for securing this debate at a timely moment, when the Joint Ministerial Council is meeting here in London and the Chief Minister of Gibraltar and those of other British overseas territories are with us. It is timely indeed, because it gives all Members of this House and all parties in this House an opportunity to reaffirm our strong support and commitment to Gibraltar and its work, not just in co-operation with the United Kingdom but with other territories and countries, in helping to fight international crime.

[Ian Paisley (North Antrim) (DUP)]

Will the Solicitor-General take it upon himself at the end of the debate to let the Chief Minister know of the unwavering support throughout this House and that it stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Gibraltar?

[The Solicitor-General]

I am happy to accept the hon. Gentleman’s exhortation. I hope to see the Chief Minister at the Foreign Office later today and I will convey the message of this House loud and clear that we support the work of our friends in Gibraltar and the prosecutorial authorities and indeed the Attorney General, Ricky Rhoda.

I can contribute to this debate by outlining the work of the Crown Prosecution Service and Serious Fraud Office, both of which the Attorney-General and I superintend in our role as Law Officers. Indeed, I am pleased to be able to tell my hon. Friend that the working relationship between the UK and Gibraltarian prosecuting authorities is strong and constructive.

As my hon. Friend recognises, the Government have set out to reinvigorate our relationship with the overseas territories, to increase the UK’s engagement with their Governments at all levels and to support them when required. I have just returned from a conference of Attorneys General of 10 of the UK’s overseas territories, including Gibraltar, with representatives from the United States and Canadian Departments of Justice. We met in Miami and discussed a range of topics relating to the rule of law and administration of justice in the overseas territories and sought to enhance our mutual co-operation on a range of matters. After three and a half days of discussion, my firm view is that the Attorneys General of each of our territories play a key role in helping to drive forward legal reform and to meet our wider ambitions.

Ensuring good governance and respect for the rule of law is a fundamental and vital platform for delivering security and prosperity for all our citizens. During the conference we discussed important topics including mutual legal assistance, extradition procedures, tackling bribery, fraud and corruption, improving legislative drafting processes, child safeguarding—a growing and important issue in many territories—and constitutional matters. A series of actions on those subjects was agreed, and I look forward to continuing our close liaison with the Attorney General of Gibraltar and the other overseas territories as we work to deliver them.

I turn to the work of the prosecuting authorities, starting with the Crown Prosecution Service. It is important to note that co-operation between the UK and Gibraltar is not confined to mutual legal assistance through the formal letter of request process. It also takes place, as my hon. Friend suggested, on a police-to-police basis. The appropriate avenue will depend on the nature of the request and the purpose for which the information or evidence is sought. Both the Crown Prosecution Service and the Serious Fraud Office work regularly with other judicial authorities using the established MLA channels. That is how countries request and provide assistance in obtaining evidence that is located in one country for use in criminal investigations and prosecutions in another. It is also used to obtain assistance in the tracing, restraint and confiscation of the proceeds of crime, which is particularly germane to the issues that have been raised today.

Letters of request from Gibraltar to the UK typically come via the United Kingdom central authority, which is based in the Home Office. The CPS will be involved in requests to restrain or confiscate assets here in the UK. The CPS and the SFO have worked with the Gibraltarian authorities in the past few years, and that has been of real benefit to both jurisdictions.

[Bob Stewart]

Is my hon. and learned Friend saying that to all intents and purposes, that which is legal in this country is legal in Gibraltar, and that which is illegal in Gibraltar is illegal in this country, too?

[The Solicitor-General]

That is a fair way of putting it. As my hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst has said, we will be entering into the justice and home affairs measures on 1 December, and Gibraltar has taken swift action to do likewise—to follow in lockstep with the UK. Those extra safeguards and means of mutual co-operation strengthen the ties that bind us.

I am sure that my hon. Friend will understand that it would not be appropriate for me to give specific examples because of the international expectation that MLA requests remain confidential. However, I can talk about some notable recent successes of the CPS, such as the securing of two convictions against individuals for fraudulently obtaining moneys from a vulnerable elderly relative. Assistance from Gibraltar helped to secure that conviction, and there was lawyer-to-lawyer contact to progress the case. I would like to mention some other examples of ongoing casework, ranging from organised crime—specifically drug trafficking—to fraud and identity theft. CPS lawyers have reported receiving exceptional assistance from Gibraltar, including a response to a request that was issued at very short notice following a change in position from the defence. In another case, a letter of request was sent to obtain banking evidence, and there were no problems with obtaining the material from Gibraltar.

[Keith Vaz]

That is very useful information, particularly in respect of the inquiries being undertaken by the Home Affairs Committee. Is the Solicitor-General telling the Chamber that there are no examples of people being prosecuted for money laundering in Gibraltar, either relating to drugs money—that is the main interest of the Select Committee—or otherwise?

[The Solicitor-General]

We are not aware of any prosecutions, but I will look into the matter further to give the right hon. Gentleman cast-iron information. I will write to him, if I may, on that point. I am grateful to him for helping to reinforce the consensus that exists in the House about the good criminal prosecution and investigation work that goes on in Gibraltar.

[Robert Neill]

Following on from that point, perhaps my hon. and learned Friend will confirm my own experience at the Bar, that very often jurisdiction as to where a prosecution takes place is but a small part of the bigger picture. Frequently, assistance given by authorities in one jurisdiction may lead to prosecutions elsewhere. The important test, with which Gibraltar completely complies, is the prevention of crime and the capture of criminals.

[The Solicitor-General]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The delicate network of interlocking mutual legal assistance is vital if we are to have a truly international approach to the fight against crime, which nowadays often exists in many jurisdictions and crosses many boundaries.

[Thomas Docherty]

Two specific allegations could be levelled against Gibraltar. The first is that it is a soft touch on the physical bringing of drugs into its ports; and the second is that it is a soft touch on the financial services-based introduction of laundered money. Will the Solicitor-General confirm, for the record, that Gibraltar’s ports are as safe as, if not safer than, UK ports and that its financial arrangements are as robust as those of the United Kingdom?

[The Solicitor-General]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving me the opportunity, on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government, to provide those assurances and to send the message clearly to Madrid that it is wrong to seek opportunities to tarnish Gibraltar’s reputation, particularly in relation to money laundering and drug smuggling. Gibraltar works unceasingly and tirelessly to address those allegations. This debate is a great opportunity for us to set the record straight.

In the time that I have remaining, I would like to talk briefly about the SFO. Like the CPS, the SFO normally works through MLA channels, but it also uses informal liaison. The international assistance team in the SFO considers the execution of matters that have arisen from Gibraltar, and the SFO also regularly makes MLA requests. I am pleased to report that liaison between the SFO and the Gibraltarian authorities is very good. The SFO has worked with the Gibraltarian authorities on several occasions in the last few years. It is a matter of record that the First Minister of Gibraltar gave evidence for the prosecution in an SFO case relating to GP Noble in 2011 and 2012. The SFO has also provided expert assistance and support to the Gibraltarian authorities in respect of operational procedure and best practice. For example, the SFO graphics team met the Royal Gibraltar police to discuss a number of issues, including the presentation of evidence at court.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst set out, Gibraltar has signed up to several international obligations, which put it high in international standings. We are assured that the anti-money laundering legislation in Gibraltar is in full compliance with its EU obligations and that it has been independently reviewed by the Financial Action Task Force, the International Monetary Fund and others. Gibraltar is well advanced on meeting its Financial Action Task Force recommendations and preparing for the fourth money laundering directive. Notably, Gibraltar has entered into the equivalent of 125 tax information exchange agreements, and it is committed to automatic tax exchange with the UK, the USA and some 90 other countries via the common reporting standard, which my hon. Friend referred to. In addition, the Gibraltar Financial Intelligence Unit, which is responsible for, among other things, the receiving and actioning of suspicious transaction reports, is a member of the international Egmont group and shares information systematically with members of the group around the world. Those examples further demonstrate how Gibraltar’s regulatory, law enforcement and intelligence authorities work hand in glove with their UK and international counterparts in the detection and prevention of crime.

I hope that the debate has made it crystal clear, both to my hon. Friend and other hon. Members, and to the wider world, that there is a strong, constructive and ongoing working relationship between the prosecution authorities in this country and in Gibraltar. It should be obvious from the summary I have provided that that co-operation spans both formal and informal channels, and that it includes joint working on casework and promoting best practice. As I mentioned at the outset, the Attorney-General and I are clear in our support for our counterparts and their teams in all the overseas territories, which very much includes Gibraltar. They play a central role in driving legal reform and upholding the rule of law, and we are pleased to be able to offer them our full support in that regard.

11:29

Sitting suspended.