Criminal Law Legislation Update
| Date | 01 February 2007 |
| Published date | 01 February 2007 |
| DOI | 10.1350/jcla.2007.71.1.3 |
| Author | Sally Louise Ireland |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Update*
Sally Louise Ireland†
Primary legislation
Several criminal justice Bills received Royal Assent on 8 November
2006, the last day of the parliamentary session before prorogation in
advance of the Queen’s Speech. The new statutes include: the Fraud Act;
the Road Safety Act; the Violent Crime Reduction Act; the Armed Forces
Act; the Police and Justice Act; the Animal Welfare Act; and the Safe-
guarding Vulnerable Groups Act, amongst others. Future articles will
deal with the provisions of these Acts.
Statutory instruments
The Crime (International Co-operation) Act 2003 (Commencement
No. 3) Order 2006 (SI 2006 No. 2811) applies across the UK. It brings
into force ss 32–36 and ss 42–46 on 1 November 2006. These sections
make provision for UK authorities to carry out mutual legal assistance in
relation to financial information. Section 32 allows the Secretary of
State to direct police or customs to apply for a customer information
order, if he receives a request from an appropriate foreign authority. A
customer information order is a court order that provides that a specified
financial institution must, on being required to do so by notice in writing
given by the applicant, provide any such customer information as it has
regarding the person specified. The financial institution must provide
the information as required, in spite of any restriction on the disclosure
of information. Section 33 provides for the making, varying or discharg-
ing of customer information orders. A judge may make the order if he is
satisfied that the person specified in the application is subject to an
investigation in the country in question, the investigation concerns
conduct which is serious criminal conduct, and which constitutes an
offence in England and Wales or (as the case may be) Northern Ireland,
or would do were it to occur there, and the order is sought for the
purposes of the investigation. The application may be made ex parte to a
judge in chambers. Section 34 creates offences, punishable by fines,
where a financial institution fails to comply with an order without
reasonable excuse, or knowingly or recklessly makes a statement which
is false or misleading in a material particular, in purported compliance
with an order. Section 35 makes provision, similar to that for customer
information orders, for account monitoring orders, which relate to
account information in regard to an account or accounts held at the
* As at 9 November 2006.
†
Senior Legal Officer (Criminal Justice), JUSTICE.
3
The Journal of Criminal Law
relevant financial institution. Section 36 relates to making, varying or
discharging account monitoring orders.
Section 42 creates an offence regarding the disclosure of information
by an institution specified in a customer information or account mon-
itoring order, or the employee of such an institution. This section also
applies where the Secretary of State or the Lord Advocate receives a
request under s. 13 for evidence to...
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