Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 4) Rules 2023
(3 months, 1 week ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mike Freer)
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 4) Rules 2023 (S.I., 2023, No. 1397).
It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship today, Mrs Cummins. I welcome the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney—it is good to see Whips taking their rightful place.
This statutory instrument amends the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, known as the CPRs, to provide a closed material procedure for court proceedings relating to prevention and investigation measures. I will refer to these as STPIMs—state threats prevention and investigation measures—to distinguish them from terrorism prevention and investigation measures, which are known as TPIMs.
STPIMs are new measures established under provisions in part 2 of the National Security Act 2023 that closely replicate the provisions for TPIMs in the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011. STPIMs provide a suite of restrictive measures that can be used, where necessary and proportionate, to prevent, restrict and disrupt an individual’s further involvement in state threats activity, where prosecution and other disruptive actions are not possible. STPIMs will be used sparingly and as a measure of last resort to mitigate the immediate threat an individual poses while they continue to be investigated by the authorities.
STPIMs require specific procedural provision in order to be workable. This statutory instrument, while not establishing STPIMs, makes that procedural provision to enable their operation. The imposition of STPIMs requires the permission and review of the court and contains a procedure for appeal by the STPIM subject. This statutory instrument amends the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 to provide the court with a bespoke closed material procedure for proceedings relating to STPIMs.
Shailesh Vara (North West Cambridgeshire) (Con)
My hon. Friend says that there would need to be court approval. What level of court would it be, and will there be any ministerial approval required, or is it just the court?
Mike Freer
My understanding is that this would require High Court approval. There is a review mechanism by the subject, subject to the purview of the Home Office, but it does not involve the Secretary of State for Justice.
The procedure includes, in particular, for applications by the Secretary of State for permission to impose measures, directions for a review hearing after the imposition of the STPIM and appeal against the imposition of the measure itself, or any other determination in connection with the STPIM. Both the review hearing and any appeal hearing will be determined on judicial review principles.
These cases will inevitably involve sensitive material. This instrument therefore sets out a procedure to enable the sensitive material to be relied on by the Government, and the evidence against the STPIM subject, to be tested by the court, but through a closed procedure that will ensure that it can be adequately protected in the public interest. This rule change is effected by amending part 80 of the CPRs, which contain rules relating to TPIM proceedings, so that the rules cover the equivalent STPIM proceedings.
In conclusion, the Government have publicly committed to provide operational partners with the tools needed to combat state threats. STPIMs are important measures within this toolkit, and this instrument is vital in ensuring that STPIMs are a usable tool that can be fully defended and justified in our courts through both open and closed proceedings. Given the sensitivity of the evidence, which will be a key component in why an individual cannot be prosecuted and why the use of an STPIM is necessary, it would fundamentally undermine the scheme if closed proceedings—where sensitive intelligence and national security arguments can be made—were not available. I hope colleagues will agree.
Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this evening, Mrs Cummins—I do not believe it will be necessary to detain you for long. Apologies that my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton North could not be here.
I am grateful to the Minister for outlining the purpose of the SI. As he said, it amends the Civil Procedures Rules 1998 and includes provision for a closed material procedure for core proceedings relating to STPIMs, which were established under the National Security Act 2023. Our first duty in this place is to ensure that we keep our people across the country safe. The measures proposed today assist with that by ensuring that the law is amended appropriately to facilitate proceedings undertaken in relation to the 2023 measures relating to states as well as individuals.
The National Security Act provides a major update in legislation to counter state threats. Before it was passed, there was no available measure tailored to the specific terrorist threats posed by foreign state activity, and TPIMs were available only in relation to individuals. It is therefore clear that, without the measures in this SI, the purpose of the changes to the National Security Act would not be achieved.
The instrument also relates to High Court STPIM procedures and the use of closed material—material the disclosure of which it is believed would be contrary to the national interest. Just as there has to be caution in the use of the power relating to both TPIMs and STPIMs, there must be caution around withholding information that may be in the public interest. I note that the Secretary of State is required to disclose all the material that is relevant to proceedings but, with the permission of the court, may withhold closed material from the individual, although such material must be disclosed to the court and the special advocate.
We must be nervous about any action in this area that could prejudice a fair trial, which the Minister touched on. How will the Government ensure that we do not get into that situation, and is there any provision to avoid that? The explanatory memorandum outlines the procedure for the imposition of an STPIM notice, the need for a directions hearing and for a substantive review, and appeal arrangements. Is the Minister content that the courts have the necessary powers to ensure that the Secretary of State deals with these notices in the most appropriate and transparent way possible, given the likely need for some information to be withheld?
Overall, we are content that the measures before us are necessary in the national interest. For that reason, we will not oppose them.
Mike Freer
Let me touch on a couple of points. First, yes, we are content that the Secretary of State has the relevant powers to ensure that these measures are used correctly, and those involved also have an appeal mechanism to ensure that they are being applied correctly.
One reason why the closed material procedure is required is that, while we all appreciate the need for transparency and for justice to be seen to be done, putting sensitive information into the public domain would disclose the sources of that information, which could put people at risk and might also create a flight risk. Another reason is that, sometimes, the Security Service may wish the person operating on behalf of a state actor to continue their activity while they can be monitored, and disclosing information might cause that activity to cease while the security services are undertaking that work. That is why, on balance, we think these measures are a necessary step to ensure that our national security needs are met and that justice is met.
Question put and agreed to.