Criminal Justice and Immigration Act

The Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill is a public Bill in the United Kingdom. It was introduced by David Hanson in 2006 and is currently being read in the House of Lords. [1]

Indecent images of children

Section 68 of the Bill seeks to amend Section 7 of the Protection of Children Act (1978). A reference to a pseudo-photograph will now include -

(a) a tracing or other image, whether made by electronic or other means (of whatever nature)—

(i) which is not itself a photograph or pseudo-photograph, but

(ii) which is derived from the whole or part of a photograph or pseudo-photograph (or a combination of either or both); and

(b) data stored on a computer disc or by other electronic means which is capable of conversion into an image within paragraph (a) [2]

Under Section 1 of the Protection of Children Act, it is an offence to take, make, possess, distribute or show an indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph, or a reference to such an image. [3]

Section 68 of the Bill will also allow the Secret Intelligence Service to engage in acts which are prohibited by the Protection of Children Act.

Offences committed abroad

Section 71 of the Bill [4] intends to allow the CPS to prosecute British nationals for acts done legally abroad, if the acts are contrary to laws listed in Schedule 2 [5] of the Sexual Offences Act. This removes the requirement of dual criminality.

Sex offenders

Section 139 of the Bill will allow the Police to disclose information about sex offenders to members of the public [6] and Section 141 of the Bill will force sex offenders to disclose any information which is requested by the Secretary of State (or one of his/her delegates) [7].

External Links

• Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill at Parliament.uk
• Article about the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill, at anu.nfshost.com