Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Cash Searches: Code of Practice) Order 2021

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Monday 17th May 2021 Grand Committee

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for the explanation of these instruments, all of which are important in the fight against crime and criminality, and to ensure that the ill-gotten gains from crime do not fuel further levels of criminality in our society. Like the noble Lord, Lord Dodds of Duncairn, I welcome these prescribed codes because they will enable the Minister for Justice in Northern Ireland and those involved in tackling crime and criminality, such as the National Crime Agency, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Assets Recovery Agency, which was subsumed into SOCA, to do their job more effectively. We are fed up of seeing these criminal gangs feeding off their ill-gotten gains at the expense, in many instances, of deeply marginalised and vulnerable communities, particularly in urban areas.

The noble Lord, Lord Dodds, referred to one of the greatest acts of criminality—the Northern Bank robbery, about which there was a documentary and a BBC Sounds drama in recent weeks. Two of the people abducted lived quite near me, and were my constituents when I was a Member of the other place and of the Northern Ireland Assembly. They vividly told me what happened to them on that night, when they were imprisoned in their own homes and the husband was taken away to the Northern Bank to participate in the robbery of his own place of employment. Like the noble Lord, Lord Dodds, I agree that these new codes of practice should be used to find out how and why that money was stolen, where it is being used, how it has been disbursed and in what ways it is strangulating our society in Northern Ireland.

All these instruments are very important for the recovery of cash obtained under illegal circumstances. I have already referred to Northern Ireland; that is my starting point and, I suppose, my end point. I note that the revised code is required due to the commencement of outstanding provisions in the Criminal Finances Act 2017 in Northern Ireland, which grants additional powers to law enforcement and prosecution agencies that are already available in England, Scotland and Wales. All these codes have been amended to reflect the commencement of new powers in Northern Ireland. The Minister for Justice has been looking for these enhanced powers, which could not have been enacted earlier because of the lack of functioning political structures in Northern Ireland for three years. Thankfully, those were reinstated in January last year with the launch of New Decade, New Approach.

While I support and underline the importance of these prescribed codes, I would like the Minister’s reassurances that they were subject to an equality impact assessment. If not, why not? Are they human rights compliant? As others have mentioned, it is important that the prescribed codes themselves, in their guidance and in the powers, are proportionate and that they reflect good human rights practices. I am also in absolutely no doubt that many communities in Northern Ireland, particularly in urban areas but also in rural areas, have been left in a perilous state because of the actions of paramilitaries and gangsters who have tried to escape these rules in order to pursue and perpetuate their ill-gotten gains. That, I believe, must be stopped.

The National Crime Agency and the Assets Recovery Agency have important powers that need to be used proportionately and assertively. The Serious Organised Crime Agency concentrated on international crime, which was and is important, but it changed the threshold for crime detection. As a result, many others involved in paramilitary activity and gangsterism in Northern Ireland have escaped the net. It is important that those issues are looked at.

While I agree with these rules, it is important that we look at this in the all-Ireland sphere, because many of the paramilitary operations, with their gangland assets and ill-gotten gains, operate on an all-Ireland basis. They also operate through drug trafficking. Many drug barons operate in the south of Ireland and in Northern Ireland. There needs to be a greater level of co-operation. What efforts can be made with the Irish Government to look at this as an all-Ireland operation to tackle such crime, using these prescribed codes?

I am very happy to support these instruments because I believe that we and the Government must have the intention and power to deal with drug trafficking, money laundering and bank robberies on an all-Ireland basis to free our communities from the danger of paramilitarism and racketeering.