Beware government bill seeking licence for criminality
Oct 24, 2020 4:44:22 GMT -8
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Post by rebel2020 on Oct 24, 2020 4:44:22 GMT -8
NEW PROPOSED LAWS IN THE UK:
Beware government bill seeking licence for criminality:
Carys Moseley comments on how the newly proposed Covert Human Intelligence Bill presents a threat to freedoms of speech and religion.
The Home Office has tabled a bill in Parliament which would allow public bodies such as the police, the Department of Health and the Food Standards Agency to authorise criminal conduct by spies. This is the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill (CHIS). So far, the government has pushed the bill quickly through all its stages in the House of Commons. The date of the first reading in the House of Lords is expected soon. The bill raises many serious concerns about the morality of government action and the effect on basic freedoms.
New powers to authorise criminal conduct
The government is trying to downplay the novelty of the bill. The Home Office memorandum on the bill says authorising criminal conduct is ‘not new activity’. It is true that the security services are already authorising undercover agents to break the law in some instances. Authorisation was disclosed when the ‘third direction’ policy of MI5 was disclosed in 2018. This policy was limited to the security services. The CHIS bill puts this on a statutory footing.
However, the bill also puts authorisation of criminal conduct by police forces, the National Crime Agency, the Serious Fraud Office and the armed forces on a statutory footing. The civilian public authorities that could authorise criminal conduct include the following: HMRC, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Competition and Markets Authority, the Environment Agency, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Food Standards Agency, the Gambling Commission. The Explanatory Notes to the bill state that these other public authorities currently rely on ‘express, implied and common law powers’. The question here is, what possible reasons could any of these public authorities have for authorising spies to commit crimes?
Authorisation of surveillance already allowed
The bill builds on the powers already given in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA). RIPA gave powers to public bodies to authorise undercover agents to engage in surveillance in the UK.
Several of the public bodies named in the CHIS bill were already named in RIPA. They include the National Crime Agency, the Serious Fraud Office, Department of Health, the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Financial Conduct Authority.
Read More Here; christianconcern.com/comment/beware-government-bill-seeking-licence-for-criminality/
Beware government bill seeking licence for criminality:
Carys Moseley comments on how the newly proposed Covert Human Intelligence Bill presents a threat to freedoms of speech and religion.
The Home Office has tabled a bill in Parliament which would allow public bodies such as the police, the Department of Health and the Food Standards Agency to authorise criminal conduct by spies. This is the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill (CHIS). So far, the government has pushed the bill quickly through all its stages in the House of Commons. The date of the first reading in the House of Lords is expected soon. The bill raises many serious concerns about the morality of government action and the effect on basic freedoms.
New powers to authorise criminal conduct
The government is trying to downplay the novelty of the bill. The Home Office memorandum on the bill says authorising criminal conduct is ‘not new activity’. It is true that the security services are already authorising undercover agents to break the law in some instances. Authorisation was disclosed when the ‘third direction’ policy of MI5 was disclosed in 2018. This policy was limited to the security services. The CHIS bill puts this on a statutory footing.
However, the bill also puts authorisation of criminal conduct by police forces, the National Crime Agency, the Serious Fraud Office and the armed forces on a statutory footing. The civilian public authorities that could authorise criminal conduct include the following: HMRC, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Competition and Markets Authority, the Environment Agency, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Food Standards Agency, the Gambling Commission. The Explanatory Notes to the bill state that these other public authorities currently rely on ‘express, implied and common law powers’. The question here is, what possible reasons could any of these public authorities have for authorising spies to commit crimes?
Authorisation of surveillance already allowed
The bill builds on the powers already given in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA). RIPA gave powers to public bodies to authorise undercover agents to engage in surveillance in the UK.
Several of the public bodies named in the CHIS bill were already named in RIPA. They include the National Crime Agency, the Serious Fraud Office, Department of Health, the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Financial Conduct Authority.
Read More Here; christianconcern.com/comment/beware-government-bill-seeking-licence-for-criminality/
