I pay tribute to the part that the hon. Gentleman played in earlier debates on this issue. He is of course right: the law can go so far, but people need to be educated, and that is absolutely part of what we need to do to stamp out this despicable practice.
The malicious disclosure of intimate sexual photographs and films is undoubtedly an extremely distressing experience for victims. Most are left distraught, not only by the disclosure of images that they once thought were private and personal, but by the breach of trust perpetrated by this abhorrent offence. Careers and subsequent relationships have often been ruined as a result.
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The offence will apply to disclosure of private sexual photographs or films of people, such as those of them engaged in sexual activity or depicted in a sexual way, where what is shown is not the kind of thing that would ordinarily be seen in public. To constitute an offence, the disclosure must take place without the consent of at least one person featured in the image and with the motivation of causing that person distress. The offence could potentially apply to any individuals in a range of circumstances, although a common scenario would be one in which an individual posts sexually explicit photographs of an ex-partner on the internet without their consent and with intent to cause them distress. It will be punishable with a maximum custodial sentence of two years.
The amendment before the House is the result of much detailed consideration and discussion and is carefully constructed to target the specific behaviour in question. I believe this offence will provide an important means of redress for victims of this cruel behaviour, and I am grateful to my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Maria Miller) and my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (Dr Huppert) for their excellent work in bringing this to the Government’s attention.
We have also, through Lords amendment 73, made changes to the offence of grooming under section 15 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. This amendment reduces the number of occasions on which the defendant must initially meet or communicate with the child, so that one single meeting or communication will suffice. The Government are, once again, grateful to the hon. Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion) for passionately arguing the cause for this change.
We have built on the amendments to the Malicious Communications Act 1988 made in this House by my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing Central and Acton (Angie Bray), by increasing through Lords amendment 82 the time within which prosecutions for offences under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 can be brought.
We have taken considerable steps towards protecting victims and witnesses under the age of 18 by introducing more effective youth reporting restrictions. Lords amendments 92 to 94, 112, 114 and 141 provide the criminal courts with a new statutory discretionary power to order lifetime reporting restrictions in respect of a victim or witness involved in criminal proceedings who is under the age of 18 at the time those proceedings commence, and whose quality of evidence or level of co-operation may be affected by their fear of being identified by members of the public as a person concerned in the proceedings. This replicates the current situation for adult witnesses in appropriate circumstances who are already afforded lifetime protection.
The Government were pleased to accept Lords amendment 75 tabled by the Earl of Listowel to change the law on how 17-year-olds are treated when held overnight post-charge and pre-court appearance in police custody. As with children aged 12 to 16, they will be transferred to suitable local authority accommodation for overnight detention, rather than spending a night in police cells.
I draw the attention of the House to Lords amendments 5 to 35 and 121 to 123, which introduce new powers that enable the Secretary of State to appoint recall adjudicators. Recall adjudicators will take on the functions relating to the release of recalled determinate sentence prisoners that are currently performed by the Parole Board. These amendments will allow the board to focus its resources where they are most needed—on conducting hearings for indeterminate sentence prisoners. The details of how the recall adjudicator model will operate in practice will be the subject of further development, but Members might find it reassuring to know that my noble Friend Lord Faulks made a commitment in the other place that the Government would lay a report before both Houses before the new system is brought into force.
We have made other positive changes to the Bill through Lords amendments 1 to 4, 36 to 47, 83 to 85, 88 to 91, 113 to 115, 124 and 140. These include minor amendments to some of the existing provisions in the Bill, such as on the offence of police misconduct. They also add new provisions, such as banning the offer of inducements to make personal injury claims, and introducing greater flexibility in the Court of Protection by re-routing appeals away from the Court of Appeal, which will reduce the burden on its work load.
The Government tabled an amendment that will allow the UK to give effect to a proposed new bilateral treaty between the UK and the Republic of Ireland, which will
permit mutual recognition of driving disqualifications between the two states, flowing from the EU 2014 opt-out decision. The Government accepted non-Government Lords amendments 48 to 67 and 124 in the other place, which have the effect of aligning the offence of possessing an offensive weapon with the wider sentencing framework.
I urge the House to support the Government in agreeing with the Lords amendments in this group.