‘It lacks sufficient safeguards’… Justice Secretary criticises the UK bill that would give undercover agents power to break law
A controversial UK Government Bill which would allow undercover agents to break the law will not be backed by the Scottish Government unless it is" changed substantially ", the Justice Secretary has said.
Humza Yo us af told MSPs on the Scottish Parliament' s Justice Committee that additional safeguards are needed in the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill. The Bill has already cleared the Commons and completed Committee Stage in the House of Lords.
It aims to protect undercover operatives from prosecution if they are forced to break the law on operations, and also seeks to define circumstances in which operatives can commit crime - replacing various pieces of overlapping legislation. It will cover 13 law enforcement and government agencies, including the police, the National Crime Agency, the armed forces and the Prison Service.
UK ministers have previously denied the Bill gives undercover agents a "licence to kill" and insisted the upp er limits on what operatives can be authorised to do already exist.
The S cottish Government said that as the Bill contains devolved as well as reserved provisions that would apply in Scotland, it has had to lodge a legislative consent memorandum (LCM) at the Scottish Parliament. LCMS are a political convention rather than legally binding, and are used to indicate that a devolved legislature is content for the UK Parliament to pass a law on a devolved matter.
Mr Yo us af told the committee covert human intelligence sources (CHIS) can be "vital to the gathering of essential intelligence - intelligence which may save lives". However, he said the Bill currently lacks "sufficient safeguards", with those called for including the need to ensure legitimate trade union and political party activity is not impacted.
The Justice Secretary said: “As I have made clear to the UK Government, the Bill would need to be changed substantially, with greater independent oversight and additional safeguards in relation to the human rights concerns that have been articulated, before the Scottish Government can reconsider its position and recommend that the Scottish Parliament consents to the Bill."