Powers of Entry etc. Bill [HL]

My Lords, the whole nation owes a great debt of gratitude to my noble friend Lord Selsdon for introducing this important Bill. He is to be congratulated on all the hard work that he has done with the help of Home Office officials in preparing the Bill and, for the first time, revealing to the nation the gigantic number of powers of entry contained in some 1,200 statutes, comprising both primary and secondary legislation. I have, in the past, been a severe critic of the Home Office for its constipated and unwelcoming approach to new ideas from outside its own magic circle, so it gives me particular pleasure on this occasion to be able to offer it a bouquet on its positive approach to this vital constitutional subject. Indeed, if it continues in this vein it may indicate a major cultural revolution, which should be welcomed by both libertarians and by those for whom efficient but limited government is a priority. I aspire to be a member of both of those groups. A preliminary list is in the schedule but, in addition to mere lists of the primary and secondary legislation containing the powers, my noble friend has shown me the very detailed description of the exact powers and conditions in each of the statutes. The purpose of the Bill goes to the heart of our parliamentary democracy and, indeed, echoes the evolution of the struggle for the protection of rights of citizens, which goes right back to 1215. Magna Carta itself has the following provision: ""No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land"." Parliament has let down the spirit of Magna Carta in allowing the law of the land to become, in far too many cases, oppressive and disproportionate in its execution. The Bill also echoes the development of habeas corpus, which goes back to the 17th century, although cases involving habeas corpus are known in English law back to 1214. Perhaps I might mention the amicus curiae brief that the noble and learned Lord, Lord Goldsmith, along with 252 members—I am one of those amici—of both Houses of the United Kingdom Parliament, together with the Scottish Parliament, the European Parliament and the Welsh Assembly, submitted this month to the Supreme Court of the United States in the matter of certain Uighur detainees in Guantanamo. I strongly recommend that those who are interested in the evolution of our ancient freedoms should read the brilliantly written and detailed descriptions by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Goldsmith, of the struggles against both monarchs and over-mighty Executives to retain habeas corpus. My noble friend’s Bill seeks to regulate the use of powers of entry to make them less overbearing, disproportionate and intrusive than they have become. No one denies that, in a well-regulated and democratic society, the servants of the state need many powers to oversee, administer and enforce the laws of the land. Unfortunately, as life grows evermore complicated, more and more legislation is churned out by the Executive. Much of it is ill-considered and ill-drafted and it has, in recent years, relied almost entirely—given the deplorable routine use of the guillotine in another place—on your Lordships’ House for scrutiny and improvement. What I find wholly unacceptable is the way in which powers of entry can all too often be administered without the authority of a magistrate. The noble and learned Lord, Lord Scott, who has just spoken, made that point extremely clear. Those powers are thus fodder for every officious official who likes to display his supremacy. This applies in particular to local government and, of course, to the multitude of regulating quangos. What an irony it is that the police generally require a warrant to enter private premises, yet in the mass of the statutes listed in this Bill the use of a warrant is not generally required. Of course, we recognise that there are many important occasions— some of them dramatic, such as the prevention of terrorism or serious organised crime, and some routine, such as the inspection of premises under standards rules—where unannounced entry is necessary. For those purposes a warrant may or may not be required as well. What a paradox it is, however, that in recent years the most careful arrangements have been made to lay down detailed rules for the supervision of the interception of communications, yet Parliament has legislated in a myriad of ways to allow entry to premises without the slightest attempt to ensure that the powers are appropriately and proportionately used. It is clear that in the great majority of cases all the information required can be obtained by co-operation and consent but where compulsory entry is needed, it should—with the exceptions that I have already mentioned—be subject to the warrant of a magistrate. Your Lordships might remember that on 15 June last year this House took a small but, I believe, important step in reversing the previous trend. At the Report stage of the Political Parties and Elections Bill, we inserted an amendment with support from all sides of the House, by a vote of 152 to 105, to require that the untrammelled powers of entry which had been put into the Bill should be subject to a magistrate’s warrant. The Government subsequently accepted that amendment and I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Bach, for doing so; it is now in the Act. I am intending to table an amendment in Committee on this Bill to require that all future legislation, primary or secondary, which includes powers of entry should have the use of such powers spelt out along the lines of this Bill, particularly to ensure that, with clearly defined exceptions, the exercise of all such powers for entry without consent would require a magistrate’s warrant. I hope that the Government will accept this Bill and build upon it, so that all future legislation with powers of entry would be much more tightly drawn. I should like to see a publicity campaign to encourage members of the public who feel that they have been subjected to disproportionate or abusive powers of entry to report it, perhaps through the Parliamentary Ombudsman, so that Parliament can take necessary steps to control the Executive. That, after all, is one of our fundamental mandates on behalf of the people. I am very sorry that the noble Lord, Lord West, is not able to be here to respond on behalf of the Government, because I am aware that he has done much to encourage and assist my noble friend in preparing the Bill. The noble Lord, Lord West, is one of the few successful GOATs who have joined the Government Front Bench and I would be happy to see him remain there when there is a change of government. I believe that, however little it is initially noticed in the wide world, we will today be taking an important step to reinforce the rights of our citizens for which our forefathers fought so hard.