The Minister may also say that many criminal offences place a burden on the defendant. Most people would accept that it is public policy to ensure that everyone displays a tax disc, and that if someone is convicted he is not likely to be sentenced heavily. Does the hon. New clause 4, which the National Criminal Intelligence Service asked me to table, provides for powers of entry, search and seizure to obtain a key. The inclusion of such a power in the Bill would, I am told, be a vital tool in the fight against crime.
Investigators are anxious to retain their ability to deal with and make progress on investigations.
The power to search for a key would not give investigators new powers, but would provide the means to continue to produce evidence to the courts in the current format prior to the introduction of easily available cryptographic packages. It is clear that we must embrace new technology. Powers of search provisions always raise civil liberties concerns. However, the new clause makes it clear that the type of protection needed to comply with the European convention on human rights would be in place. For example, the powers of search would be judicially warranted, and would focus on the need to gather and present evidence to allow a full investigation of the original crimes, rather than on an offence under clause 49.