Terrorist Asset-Freezing (Temporary Provisions) Bill

I shall discuss judicial review in a little more detail shortly. The point that I am making is simply that this Bill does not give the Treasury any retrospective protection in relation to decisions made between the handing down of the Supreme Court judgment and Royal Assent. There are five safeguards that I wish to mention in order to provoke what I think is an important debate about the dimensions of the Bill. Let me begin by dealing with the question of who is included in its ambit. The orders that we propose to underpin ensure that—as I have said—individuals and organisations can be designated only if a reasonable suspicion test is met, and if a second test establishes that action is needed to protect the public. Freezes will be removed from those for whom the legal test fails. The Treasury has a track record of actively reviewing designations and revoking them when they no longer meet the legal tests. Of the 51 United Kingdom designations made under orders to date, 18 have been revoked following a Treasury review—for example, when criminal charges have been dropped, or when an individual is no longer considered to pose a significant threat. The Treasury must be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to suspect a person, and reasonable grounds for suspicion must always be based on fact. The facts are provided in a statement of case prepared by the police or the security services, and the basis for action is endorsed by the financial action taskforce. The Treasury does not casually make up a determination of what is in the interests of public protection and what is not. In determining whether a person constitutes a threat, it will consider the advice of the police and the security services.