My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for tabling this amendment. The noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge, sat down before making a further point. I was reminded not of Richard III but of Oliver Twist, who wanted “more”.
On this particular point, Clause 20 is one of a number of safeguards, as I am sure noble Lords have seen, within the Bill that provides for designated persons and requires the Government regularly to conduct a thorough re-examination of designated decisions. The Government must, as we have heard from noble Lords who have spoken through this short debate, conduct this review at least every three years. The noble Lord, Lord Pannick, has rightly raised the issue, and I accept the point, that the EU carries out reviews more frequently. However, Clause 20 should be considered as part of a system of safeguards that the Government have built into this Bill which I believe will provide at least an equivalent, and in some respects greater, level of protection to that afforded to individuals designated by the European Union.
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First, a designated person can request a reassessment of their designation whenever they so choose. Whenever that same person has new information to present in their defence or their circumstances change, they may request a further reassessment. The Government will consider such requests promptly. The closest equivalent process in the EU can take many months, as I am sure noble Lords are aware, due to the need for decisions and documents to be agreed unanimously by all 28 member states.
Secondly, designated persons can challenge in court on judicial review principles.
Thirdly, a Minister may instigate a reassessment at any time—for example, if new information becomes available to the Government, including revocation of a designation by one of our international partners. The decision to designate would not be made for an indefinite period. Rather, sanctions would be actively managed, and the Government would be under an obligation to revoke a designation if it no longer met the legal threshold.
Fourthly, the Bill mandates a broader political review of each sanctions regime at least once a year. This will shine a spotlight on the overall dynamics in the same way as the EU’s annual reviews and provide impetus for Ministers to use the power I have just mentioned to instigate a reassessment of designations that may no longer meet the threshold given the passage of time.
The review mandated by Clause 20 is intended as a final protection in case a designation has not been actively considered for a considerable period. The three-year timeline is in line with current Australian practice. The US, Canada and others do not carry out such reviews. While I accept that the EU reviews are more frequent, the process—which I have looked into—is relatively light-touch: designated persons are invited to present new information and member states are given a similar opportunity to make observations. It is then up to each member state to decide how actively to engage in such reviews.
The process envisaged in Clause 20 would be a more substantial exercise than the EU review. It would accordingly take a great deal of time and resource, which would have to be diverted from other work. It would also risk cutting across ongoing court challenges and add further and unnecessary complexity to that litigation. Requiring this exercise to be run every year
would hold the UK to a higher standard than our international partners and is, we believe, unnecessary given the wider procedural protections I have outlined.
Therefore, on the basis of the explanation I have given—