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

Lord Dodds of Duncairn Excerpts

Monday 17th May 2021 Grand Committee

[Lord Dodds of Duncairn (DUP)]

My Lords, I begin by saying that I fully support the SIs that the Minister is proposing. I welcome her detailed explanation of the purpose of the regulations and that they will allow the full commencement of the Criminal Finances Act provisions in Northern Ireland at long last. This will unlock better outcomes against organised criminality, protect our economy and reduce harm in those communities that are particularly affected by organised crime gangs and paramilitarism, which has bedevilled many communities in the area that I had the great privilege to represent for many years in north Belfast.

The Criminal Finances Bill, as the Minister said, received Royal Assent back in April 2017 and has been fully commenced in England, Scotland and Wales. The fact that it has not been fully operational—the reserved matters have been, but the devolved issues have been disrupted and delayed by the previous suspension of devolution—is a matter of deep regret. We certainly saw the fall of this legislation, which proceeded in the other parts of the United Kingdom, as a major disadvantage to the collapse of devolution. It has led to a disparity in powers available to authorities in other regions of the United Kingdom in the fight against serious organised crime—and my goodness we need it in Northern Ireland perhaps more than anywhere else.

The Justice Minister in Northern Ireland has rightly said that she wants to see this introduced as quickly as possible, and there have been widespread calls, including from Members of the Assembly, for the commencement of the powers, particularly in relation to the new unexplained wealth order, account freezing and forfeiture provisions. We do not want Northern Ireland to have a weaker regime than other UK jurisdictions. It is therefore welcome news that these SIs have been laid.

It has been frustrating, as I say, but I hope that we can now look forward to the forces of law and order and the NCA having all the tools at their disposal to tackle organised crime gangs. As the Minister said, this will not just deal with those who have been directly engaged already but act as a severe deterrent to others. When I was an elected representative for north Belfast, time and again residents would ask me, “How is it that so-and-so around the corner is driving an extremely fancy car and is able to go on foreign holidays? We’re all here looking at this, we know what’s going on and the police seem powerless to act.” It was a severe problem and still is today.

The unexplained wealth orders in particular are extremely welcome and will go a long way to tackling paramilitarism and organised crime. When people do not see clear action taken in the face of obvious wrongdoing, it erodes confidence in law enforcement agencies’ ability to deal effectively with the problem. I hope that this will really give the police and others the tools they need.

There was a recent documentary on Northern Ireland television—I do not know whether it was shown on the mainland as well—about the Northern Bank robbery, one of the biggest bank robberies in the history of the UK, when £26 million was stolen by the Provisional IRA back in December 2004. Many millions of that money are still unaccounted for. People have been searching out how it has been used to finance all sorts of nefarious activity. It would be really good if some of these powers were used to track down that money and seize some of those assets from those who should not have them and are using them for nefarious purposes.

The extension of the National Crime Agency to Northern Ireland was, of course, resisted in the usual quarters, but it is playing a vital role in disrupting and dismantling organised criminality in our Province. Increasingly, protocols have been agreed with the PSNI to focus the National Crime Agency on major-impact disruption, and it is important that this does not lead to a diminution of activity towards smaller groups, particularly where the criminal finance element does not meet the threshold for some of the powers afforded by today’s code.

I believe that there is scope for the Justice Minister in Northern Ireland to examine the potential for a new assets-recovery agency, in line with the recommendations of the Independent Reporting Commission and the Policing Board, to better capture the economic harm and proceeds of crime held by paramilitaries. There is a need to continue to focus all the time on how we can increase the effectiveness and targeting of tools to enhance outcomes against these groups. If we cut off their finance, we will go a long way to putting them out of business. It is one of the greatest priorities we have in Northern Ireland. Make no mistake: some of these groups are still very active as crime gangs and drug gangs across Northern Ireland. I welcome the Northern Ireland Justice Minister’s intention to establish new offences of participating in and directing organised crime, as well as aggravated offences.

I very much welcome this very positive step forward. It is overdue, but at least come June we will be at the point where these powers are available in Northern Ireland. That is very good news indeed for the people of Northern Ireland.