Art 50 Library

Article 50 may well be triggered in the coming days - after the European Union (Notice of Withdrawal) Bill has received the Royal Assent - and that can only happen when "ping-pong" is concluded between the two Houses of Parliament. It is going to an interested week ahead! 

The House of Commons website states - "The House of Commons will now consider these amendments made by the Lords - a period that is known as ping pong. Time has been set aside on Monday 13 and, if necessary, Tuesday 14 and Wednesday 15 March 2017 for the consideration of Lords amendments."This post links to some of the key documents about Article 50.

HL Constitution Committee - The invoking of Article 50
House of Commons Library Papers on Art 50 - Brexit reading list: Legal and Constitutional issues pp 5 - 7 (with excellent links to useful documents and articles)

The Exiting the EU Committee has published two reports to date -

The process for exiting the European Union and the Government’s negotiating objectives - available here.

and The Government’s negotiating objectives: the rights of UK and EU citizens - available here.

The EU Committee in the House of Lords has published a number of reports on specific issues - and the list, with links to download the reports (for free) can be accessed here.

House of Lords Committees

 

Much (welcome) emphasis is given in the press to the activities of the committees in the House of Commons. There are "Public Bill Committees", which go through and amend bills as part of the legislative process. The Public Accounts Committee has a special role in overseeing the use of public money, and there is a system of Departmental Select Committees.

Committees in the House of Lords are often overlooked - but are great significance. The European Committees have an important role in the scrutiny of EU policy and legislation. The Lords is very good at overseeing secondary legislation from the British Government.

The House of Lords Library has recently produced a research note on current and former committees. It is available here. In my view it is both an interesting read and a useful work of reference.

US Constitution - Art II

An annotated version of the Second Article can be accessed here.

House of Lords Constitution Committee

The following motion was agreed to yesterday in the House of Lords. In future posts I will look at the work of the committee and its members -

Constitution Committee

That a Select Committee be appointed to examine the constitutional implications of all public bills coming before the House; and to keep under review the operation of the constitution;

That, as proposed by the Committee of Selection, the following members be appointed to the Committee:

L Crickhowell, B Falkner of Margravine, L Goldsmith, L Hart of Chilton, L Irvine of Lairg, B Jay of Paddington (Chairman), L Norton of Louth , L Pannick, L Powell of Bayswater, L Renton of Mount Harry, L Rodgers of Quarry Bank, L Shaw of Northstead;

That the Committee have power to send for persons, papers and records;
That the Committee have power to appoint specialist advisers;
That the Committee have power to adjourn from place to place;
That the Committee have leave to report from time to time;
That the Reports of the Committee shall be printed, regardless of any adjournment of the House;
That the evidence taken by the Committee in the last session of Parliament be referred to the Committee;
That the evidence taken by the Committee shall, if the Committee so wishes, be published.

We can see you!!!!

Yesterday in the House of Lords there was a debate on the "effect on civil liberties from electronic surveillance and the collection, monitoring, storage and loss of digital information about individual members of the public".

It is a debate worth reading, whether you are a student of law or a citizen. The House of Lords Constitution Committee issued a report - "Surveillance: Citizens and the State" which is available at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldselect/ldconst/18/18.pdf

The Report began -

"Surveillance is an inescapable part of life in the UK. Every time we make a telephone call, send an email, browse the internet, or even walk down our local high street, our actions may be monitored and recorded. To respond to crime, combat the threat of terrorism, and improve administrative efficiency, successive UK governments have gradually constructed one of the most extensive and technologically advanced surveillance systems in the world. At the same time, similar developments in the private sector have contributed to a profound change in the character of life in this country. The development of electronic surveillance and the collection and processing of personal information have become pervasive, routine, and almost taken for granted. Many of these surveillance practices are unknown to most people, and their
potential consequences are not fully appreciated.

Commenting on these developments in August 2004, the Information Commissioner Richard Thomas warned against the possibility of the UK sleepwalking into what he referred to as a “surveillance society” In particular, he expressed concern about a raft of new Government proposals, including the establishment of a national identity card scheme, and the creation of a database containing the name and address of every child under the age of 18.

The years that have followed these comments have seen an expansion in the National DNA Database (NDNAD), the introduction or development of new databases for a variety of public services, and a steady increase in the use of CCTV in both the public and private sector. There has been a profound and continuous expansion in the surveillance apparatus of both the state and the private sector. In the past, computer databases and data sharing, the monitoring of electronic communications, electronic identification, and public area CCTV surveillance were relatively uncommon. Today these technologies are ubiquitous and exert an influence over many aspects of our everyday lives. The expansion in the use of surveillance represents one of the
most significant changes in the life of the nation since the end of the Second World War, and has been shaped by a succession of governments, public bodies, and private organisations. Furthermore, surveillance continues to exert a powerful influence over the relationship between individuals and the state, and between individuals themselves. The selective way in which it is
sometimes used threatens to discriminate against certain categories of individuals.

In 2006, the Information Commissioner commissioned the Surveillance Studies Network to compile A Report on the Surveillance Society. The Report was published in November 2006, and focused on surveillance in everyday life in the UK today and in the future, and on how it might be regulated. In March 2007, the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) produced its report,
Dilemmas of Privacy and Surveillance: Challenges of Technological Change,which also made a number of recommendations for regulation."

During the Easter Recess a review of RIPA (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000) was concluded - which revealed many uses of powers for trivial purposes - which the Home Secretary has announced she will crack down on.

Big Brother is Watching You!

How do you assure that investigatory and surveillance powers are only used for the purposes intended when the powers were granted - and not for other, including trivial, purposes? This issue was addressed at a meeting of the Lord's Constitution Committee this week.

Vernon Coaker (Minister of State for Policing, Crime & Security) both addressed the committee and answered questions.

Other issues raised were the extent of the UK's national DNA database; and the number of people arrested but not charged or convicted, but who are now on the database - who were subsequently linked to serious crimes.

It was agreed by the Minister that the UK had the largest database relative to the size of its population. 5% of UK citizens are on that database - compared to only 0.5% of US citizens on their database.

The meeting can be viewed at -

http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/VideoPlayer.aspx?meetingId=2876