Serious Crime Bill [HL]

My Lords, I agree with what has been said. I do not think that this is any part of the judicial function. It is not as though the terms of Schedule 1 are terse; they extend from page 45 to page 52, setting out in considerable detail the offences that the Government consider ought to be there. By what criterion is the court supposed to judge whether the offence is sufficiently serious to attract these provisions, notwithstanding that it does not fall within the items specified in pages 45 to 52? It is quite wrong to give this sort of responsibility to the judges, and I am sure that they would do their very best to avoid it if it were carried.