Crime (International Co-operation) Act 2003 (Designation of Participating Countries) (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) Order 2008

I think that the Committee is somewhat scarred by the experience of the very unilateral nature of the extradition agreement with the United States. There is certainly still a perception that the US is not a very equal partner in bilateral treaties, in that it takes what it wants but gives very little or nothing in return. It was in that vein that in a debate on 6 December 2007 the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, described a bilateral assistance deal with the US as unilateral. In that spirit, I have several questions for the Minister. What are the rights of access to data held or the rights of correction and deletion? Are they included? Are the rights expressly guaranteed by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the EU data protection directive? At the time the EU’s agreement was made, Statewatch concluded that there were no effective data protection provisions worth speaking of and that there was nothing to ensure that the considerable body of EU data protection legislation was respected. What right of access is available for people to find out what data about them have been shared and stored, and what guarantees are in place to ensure the proper protection of those data? How many parties are they shared with once they arrive in the United States, and does the deal include any protocol for the deletion of data supplied to the US authorities at any time in the future, or are they simply kept indefinitely? The Minister mentioned that the Secretary of State would have within his discretion the power to refuse a request. Can he give any examples of when he would be likely to refuse such a request? The Minister said on 6 December, in the debate to which I referred, that it is very unusual that this matter has come to light and that it is something that we cannot talk about in detail because it involves criminal action. He then went on to talk about the volume of requests, which I think was 5,000 to the UK each year. I wonder what volume of requests we make to the United States. What is the balance of requests made and received? Can he give any idea of the balance of requests that are likely to be granted?