UK Borders Bill

moved Amendment No. 31: 31: Clause 33, page 18, line 25, leave out ““conviction”” and insert ““the offence”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, Save the Children has drawn my attention—and, I believe, that of other noble Lords—to an injustice, as it sees it, that needs to be addressed. In doing so, it is supported by the National Children's Bureau, the Children's Legal Centre, the National Association for Youth Justice, Barnardo's, the Children's Society, and NACRO—not an inconsiderable body of highly relevant experience. Clauses 32 to 39 provide for the automatic deportation of non-British citizens through a deportation order made by the Secretary of State when they have committed certain offences. Clause 32(2) and (3) mean that mandate we deportation would extend to those who have committed a less serious offence. The person would have had to have been sentenced for a period of imprisonment of at least 12 months or committed an offence covered by the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (Specification of Particularly Serious Crimes) Order 2004. These criteria mean that the number of crimes which would be caught under the provisions is large and includes some relatively minor crimes such as fly-tipping and possession of cannabis for personal use. Save the Children, with all its experience, is deeply concerned at the implications of all this, as are the other organisations I mentioned. Clause 33 lists a number of exceptions where the Secretary of State may not make a deportation order. However, exception 2, Clause 33(3), provides for an exemption from Clauses 31 to 38 only if the person is under the age of 18 at the age of conviction. Someone who commits an offence when they are under 18, but are not convicted until after their 18th birthday, would therefore be eligible for automatic deportation under these new proposals. Given the wide range of offences concerned, it is particularly worrying that Clause 33 provides for the automatic deportation of a person who committed an offence when he or she was a child. All of us who are concerned recognise that the Government seek to address their obligations through exception 2. However, the clause as it stands will not fulfil its obligations. It is likely to give protection only to younger children and will not guarantee protection for those aged 16 or older, given the likelihood of their having reached their 18th birthday before they are convicted. I cannot see how Clause 33(3) is compatible with Articles 37 and 40 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which gives specific rights to all children who commit crimes. Article 1 defines a child as, "““every human being below the age of 18 years””." The Committee on the Rights of the Child’s recent general comment on children’s rights and juvenile justice states that, "““every person under the age of 18 years at the time of the alleged commission of an offence must be treated [in accordance with] the rules of juvenile justice””." Therefore, a person who commits a relevant offence when a child must not be eligible for automatic deportation regardless of whether they are over 18 by the time they have been convicted for it. Disturbingly, the clause as it stands could also mean that people who have committed the same offence at the same age will be treated differently depending on the length of time between the crime being committed and conviction. For example, person A commits an offence when she is 17 years and six months. She is convicted within two months and is not eligible for automatic deportation. Person B commits the same offence when he is also 17 years and six months. His case takes longer to come to trial. He is not convicted until eight months later. By this time he has turned 18 and is eligible for automatic deportation. My noble friend argued in Grand Committee that certainty was important and that the date of conviction could be more certain than the date of the offence. But surely what should matter is whether the person was or was not a child when the offence was committed. Surely the certainty of the principle that no one who commits a crime under the age of 18 can be automatically deported should take precedence. Another important issue is that Clause 33 could result in people close to their 18th birthday falsely admitting guilt to speed up the process in order to ensure that they are convicted before they turn 18 so that they will not be eligible for automatic deportation. The Government recognised in the Commons Public Bill Committee that this issue could arise. Their suggestion of combating such incentives through the inspectorate, the Crown Prosecution Service or greater transparency in the system, must be welcome. However, this amendment would ensure that the situation would not arise in the first place. Once more, I refer to the powerful words of my right honourable friend the Prime Minister about children at the Labour Party conference. This amendment will enable a policy which directly contradicts the Prime Minister’s intention to be put right and to enhance the fulfilment of his highly civilised objective. I beg to move.