Bribery Bill [HL]

The question that the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, is really asking is why a provision for the Armed Forces was not included in the authorisation scheme of the draft Bribery Bill. It is a good question and I shall try to answer it. We intended to include a provision in relation to the functions of the Armed Forces, as I think our response to the Joint Committee’s report makes clear. However, there were challenging timescales and, because of our wish to afford the Joint Committee as much time as possible to consider the Bill and our discussions with other government departments, we were unable to complete the necessary consultations in time. That is the reason why it was not included in the draft Bill. I regret that it was not, of course; it would have been much better if the draft Bill could have included what is in this Bill. However, the noble Lord asked for an explanation and that is the explanation I give. I shall now deal with the arguments that the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, has put forward. The functions of the Armed Forces are perhaps the most visible of the three categories listed in subsection (1) because of the ongoing operations in Afghanistan. All noble Lords will of course be very impressed by the way in which our Armed Forces are acting there. The purpose of the defence in relation to the Armed Forces is, we hope, clear. It is intended to avoid criminalising conduct which would amount to bribery by military personnel where it is necessary during active service—for example, when fighting an enemy, protecting life or property outside the British Isles, or in a military occupation of a country or territory overseas. We believe that it would be wrong to criminalise conduct undertaken, for example, to obtain information on the performance of an act that might be vital to the protection of life or property. We obviously owe a considerable debt to members of our Armed Forces on active service. We should not make their job more difficult than it is already by removing Clause 12(1)(c), which is what the amendment does. Although the Constitution Committee clearly had other concerns, which we have debated this afternoon, it appeared readily to accept the need for the defence in respect of the Armed Forces, by stating: ""We raise no objection to the defence in clause 12(1)(c)"." Perhaps the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, can confirm that that is what the Constitution Committee meant by that phrase. I hope that the Committee will take a similar view, and believe that the Armed Forces are appropriately referred to in the Bill.