Crime and Security Bill

My Lords, I have given notice that from these Benches we oppose Clauses 34 to 39 standing part of the Bill. We gave notice that we also oppose Clause 38 but somebody seems to have dropped it from the Marshalled List in hope. The Minister will not be surprised that I am speaking against all these clauses as a group. At Second Reading the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lloyd of Berwick, spoke powerfully against what he called, ""a parallel system of criminal justice … using the civil courts".—[Official Report, 29/3/10; col. 1240.]" He was talking about little bits of criminal law which apply only to the individual who is the subject of an injunction, and not universally, and drawing your Lordships’ attention to the fact that breach of the injunction could lead to imprisonment. This would follow an injunction granted only on the civil standard of proof and created by magistrates and judges sitting in civil courts, with little idea of how what an injunction says relates to the criminal law as a whole. The gang injunction provisions were introduced in the Policing and Crime Act 2009, which received Royal Assent less than five months ago—only a week before this Bill was introduced in the Commons, extending the provisions to those aged under 18. Clauses 34 to 39 must have been drafted well before Royal Assent of the 2009 Act. However well that legislation for those aged over 18 was thought through, there has not been an opportunity to consider its application, assess practice or review the results. There are, I understand, similar injunctions in place and available in the United States, but I am told that they have been ineffective or even counterproductive there, leading to discrimination and stigmatisation of innocent minority ethnic young people. It is not possible even to begin to consider the position here in practice given the very swift movement of events. Indeed, I do not believe that there was even public consultation in 2009. The gang injunction provisions were not included in the Policing and Crime Bill as originally introduced. An injunction may be granted if the court is satisfied on the civil standard of proof that a person is engaged in, or encouraged, or assisted group-related violence—in other words, he may never have been convicted of an offence. If he has, he will have been punished for that offence. During the passage of the 2009 Act, the Minister recognised that, ""Changing the law to enable the courts to use injunctions for under-18s would involve a major change in how civil law interacts with minors"." Quite so. A child cannot be imprisoned, so the powers are for supervision or detention orders on breach of an injunction, though it can have the effect of amounting to house arrest for up to eight hours a day, or up to three months in youth detention accommodation. The Home Office impact assessment said that an injunction will serve the purpose of preventing acts of serious violence, breaking down gang culture and preventing younger members’ behaviour from escalating, providing the opportunity for local agencies to engage with gang members and develop effective strategies for them to exit the gang. I do not quarrel with those objectives for one moment but I do quarrel with the means—yet more legislation miraculously curing society’s ills. It cannot do it by itself. A child—I emphasise "a child"—involved in gang activities should be dealt with by children’s services and, if necessary, the family courts, as a child in need of protection or at risk of harm. We have a specialist youth justice system. A child accused of offending behaviour should be dealt with not in the ordinary adult court but in a forum with appropriate procedures. A civil detention order goes against the UK’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child that custody should be a last resort only. Short-term custody for under-18s normally includes a rehabilitative element—training as well as detention. Many people have worked hard for many years on seeking ways to deal with young offenders. We see none of that experience coming through in what is proposed in the Bill. What is the necessity for this? There are already many civil and criminal justice measures to tackle criminal behaviour among young people and there is safeguarding legislation which can be used to protect them. Therefore, we believe that these clauses are unnecessary and not thought through. They blur the distinction between the civil and criminal law and criminalise children. They are bad. We oppose the clause.