My Lords, first, before I go any further, as I said in Committee on the Bill—and I shall come on to the specific question from my noble friend in a moment—I am genuinely grateful for the constructive engagement that we have had on all sides of the House on this very important Bill. The set of government amendments that I tabled last week reflects proposals through discussions and meetings that we have had with Peers and representatives from across the House, from the Opposition Benches and, indeed, from the Cross-Bench Peers. I am also pleased that the noble and learned Lord, Lord Judge, and the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, also felt able, after our constructive discussions, to put their names to some of the government amendments, including the one that I shall present in a moment. It also reflects very strongly that, at a time of great challenge internationally, we reflect the finest traditions of your Lordships’ House, in that we are able to practically demonstrate co-operation across the House in ways to improve legislation.
I fully recognise that sanctions involve significant restrictions and should not be imposed lightly. The standard to be applied by a Minister when introducing sanctions regulations is therefore one of the most important parts of this Bill. I assure noble Lords that I have listened very carefully to the range of views on exactly what that standard should be, with a view to finding the right balance between the Government’s ability to impose sanctions when the relevant conditions are met and the need to guard against excessive use of these powers. I have therefore tabled Amendment 9, which introduces three additional requirements when a Minister is considering making sanctions regulations for a purpose beyond compliance with a UN or international obligation. First, the Minister must have good reasons to pursue that purpose; secondly, the Minister must be satisfied that the imposition of sanctions is a “reasonable course of action” for that purpose; and finally, when making regulations, the Minister must lay a report to Parliament explaining why the above two tests have been met.
These requirements are picked up again in Amendment 6, which is a technical drafting point consequential on Amendment 9. The requirement for the Minister to lay a written report before Parliament when making sanctions regulations reflects Amendment 7, proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Collins, and I am grateful for his suggestion. The principle that unites us here is that sanctions need to form part of a wider political strategy that is properly articulated to Parliament and the wider public. Amendment 9 aims to provide the House with the requested reassurance that sanctions
will not be imposed lightly, while at the same time ensuring that the UK can continue to play an active and constructive role in international affairs. On that basis, I hope that noble Lords will be persuaded not to press Amendments 1 and 7.
Amendments 2 to 5 refer to the purposes for which sanctions regulations may be created. The current list of purposes in the Bill is designed to ensure that we can continue to implement sanctions across the full range of purposes currently pursued by EU sanctions. The EU can adopt sanctions for any of the purposes of its common foreign and security policy. The reference to “foreign policy objectives” in subsection (2) seeks to maintain this same scope for the UK when we have left the EU.
In Amendment 2, the noble Baronesses, Lady Northover and Lady Sheehan, propose to remove the ability to impose sanctions for the purpose of advancing a UK foreign policy objective. The amendment would restrict the flexibility of future UK Governments, potentially preventing them from using sanctions, and putting the UK out of step with our international partners, including the European Union. That was a point made well by my noble friend Lord Howell—and again, I appreciate his international experience in this regard. As I have said previously, and noble Lords have acknowledged, sanctions are at their best when they are acting in unison and in co-operation and co-ordination with partners.
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Amendment 3, in the names of the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, and the noble Lords, Lord Collins and Lord Pannick, proposes to add a more detailed set of purposes for which sanctions could be imposed. I fully recognise the importance of these additional purposes. In fact, they are all purposes for which sanctions regulations are currently, or could be, implemented by the UK, based on decisions by the UN or EU. I assure the noble Lords that it is certainly our intention to be able to maintain sanctions for such purposes after we leave the EU. As the Bill is currently drafted, the proposed requirement for a Minister to explain in writing the “good reasons” for imposing sanctions would ensure that the relevant foreign policy objectives were properly articulated and explained.
As my noble friend Lord Faulks mentioned, we cannot predict all the foreign policy challenges that may confront future UK Governments. Attempting to specify all future possible purposes in the Bill may restrict the circumstances in which sanctions can be used and, as we all recognise, limit the Government’s ability to act in lock-step with international partners. I recognise that Amendment 3 is about adding more clarity and specific purposes and would not restrict the UK’s ability to use sanctions for other foreign policy objectives. However, it is a concern that too much detail on the face of the Bill could result in a list that quickly becomes out of date and begs questions about why some valid purposes have been omitted. Specifically articulating some of the purposes of sanctions, but perhaps not all of them, risks creating confusion.
In Amendment 4, the noble Lord, Lord Collins, has proposed adding a purpose related to the prevention
of serious organised crime and trafficking. While I agree that this is a valid purpose of sanctions, I question the need to include it explicitly in the Bill. Should serious organised crime or trafficking affect our national security, should we wish to tackle it as a matter of foreign policy, or should we be under an international obligation to do so, the powers in the Bill are already wide enough to allow the use of sanctions for this purpose.
Finally, in Amendment 5, the noble Baronesses, Lady Northover and Lady Sheehan, have proposed adding a purpose related to preventing the violation of sanctions. The Government take sanctions compliance very seriously. The Policing and Crime Act which passed through this House last year included new penalties for those who breach financial sanctions. However, other parts of the Bill provide all the powers we need with respect to sanctions enforcement and thus I do not believe that this amendment is necessary.
As I said at the start, I welcome the fact that all Peers have engaged in constructive dialogue with the Government and that they appreciate we have moved forward. I hope I have illustrated that the Government have demonstrated this through their amendments, and that the Bill is in a much better place than when we discussed it in Committee. Equally, I hope I have articulated the reasons why the Government cannot accept the amendment in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Collins. I understand its spirit and the basis on which it was tabled, but I hope the noble Lord will also recognise that the scope of the Bill, as currently drafted, subject to the amendments put forward by the Government, would allow the purposes that he intends to also be achieved.