Home Secretary John Reid wants to tackle organised crime, and
has proposed a series of measures that can be taken against
businesses without the burden of proof required by a criminal
court.
"Currently law enforcement authorities essentially have a choice
between prosecution or no action when dealing with organised
crime," said Reid in his introduction to the paper. "That can be a
stark and unproductive choice and we see a place for something in
between – organised crime prevention orders – which could be
imposed on individuals or organisation in such a way as to prevent
organised criminality continuing."
The paper itself says that the measures would be used where
there was not enough evidence to prove wrongdoing, and to
anticipate and prevent criminal activity before it happened.
"These sort of orders might be used in cases where there was a
strong weight of evidence but either not enough for a prosecution,
prosecution was planned but additional measures were urgently
needed to prevent harms in the interim, prosecution had been ruled
not appropriate on public interest grounds, or the evidence of
criminal activity could not be prosecuted (e.g. because it took
place overseas)," it says. "These sorts of orders could be imposed
to prevent criminal activity in the first place."
The new proposals also make a case for more liberal data sharing
between government bodies, and between public and private
organisations.
"To make a real impact, law enforcement needs to use a lot more
than the information at its own disposal," says the paper. "It has
become increasingly clear from discussions with our stakeholders
that data sharing with other parts of the public sector is highly
patchy, while sharing across the public/private divide is rarely
even attempted."
"This paper sets out some simple and practical steps for
improved data sharing, which we believe could make a considerable
impact against financial crime, fraud and money laundering," it
says.
The Green Paper has been presented to Parliament and is subject
to a consultation period that runs until 17th October. The results
of that consultation will be made public in November.
If adopted as law, the proposals could have serious implications
for hackers and others suspected of using computers to commit
crime. The paper contains proposals permitting the confiscation of
equipment under a Prevention Order as well as having limits placed
on their financial activities, such as using only certain credit
cards which have been cleared by the Home Office.
These sanctions would also be available to the government
without the securing of a criminal conviction against individuals
or organisations.
Struan Robertson, editor of OUT-LAW.COM, said: "The Government
has a challenge on its hands to write a law that balances its
proposal to punish people and organisations for crimes that it
cannot prove with the safeguards in the European Convention of
Human Rights, notably the right to a fair trial."
