• Research Briefing

    Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Bill [HL]

    An analysis of the Armed Forces (Service Complaints and Financial Assistance) Bill as brought from the House of Lords. Second Reading is on 2 February 2015. The intention of the Bill is to reform the Service Complaints System and strengthen independent oversight of that system by converting the role of the current Service Complaints Commissioner into a Service Complaints Ombudsman. The Bill also includes a power to make payments to charities, benevolent organisations and others for the benefit of the armed forces community.

  • Research Briefing

    Serious Crime Bill

    This Bill would make changes aimed to strengthen the law on the recovery of the proceeds of crime. It would make amendments to the Computer Misuse Act 1990 to update existing offences. It would also provide for a new offence of participating in the activities of an organised crime group and make changes to Serious Crime Prevention Orders and gang injunctions. The Bill would provide for the seizure and forfeiture of substances used as drug-cutting agents. It would also amend the offence of child cruelty, create a new offence relating to the possession of ‘paedophile manuals’ and amend the law on Female Genital Mutilation. The Bill would create a new offence of unauthorised possession of a knife or other offensive weapon in prison and confer extra-territorial jurisdiction on the courts in respect of certain terrorism offences.

  • Research Briefing

    Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Bill

    The Coalition Agreement included a commitment to encourage volunteering and involvement in social action. The Government intends that the Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Bill will help to fulfil this commitment by reassuring volunteers (and others) that the courts will consider the context of their actions in the event that they are sued for negligence or breach of statutory duty.

  • Research Briefing

    Criminal Justice and Courts Bill: Commons stages

    The Criminal Justice and Courts Bill 2013-14 had its second reading on 24 February 2014 and was carried over to 2014-15 session. Library Research Paper 14/8 The Criminal Justice and Courts Bill provides background on the proposals in the Bill. There are four parts covering criminal justice, including offences relating to extreme pornographic images and release and recall of prisoners, young offenders, secure colleges and youth cautions, changes to courts and tribunals, including strict liability and jury misconduct, and judicial review changes, which attracted much written and oral evidence.

  • Research Briefing

    Criminal Justice and Courts Bill

    The Criminal Justice and Courts Bill would make a number of changes to the criminal justice system including sentencing; cautions; prisoners’ release and recall; and the detention of young offenders. It would also reform court proceedings and costs; establish a new system of strict liability in contempt proceedings; create new offences for juror misconduct; make changes to the conduct and funding of judicial review claims; and amend the law on extreme pornography.

  • Research Briefing

    Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Bill

    Remote gambling operators currently need a licence in Britain only if they have equipment located here. The Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Bill would move the regulation of remote gambling to a ‘point of consumption’ basis so that all remote operators would need a licence from the Gambling Commission to enable them to transact with British customers and advertise in Britain. The Government believes this will increase protection for British customers as well as enabling British-based operators to compete on an equal footing with other remote operators.

  • Research Briefing

    London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (Amendment) Bill: Committee stage report

    This is an account of the House of Commons Committee Stage of the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (Amendment) Bill and has been prepared for the Report and Third Reading of the Bill, scheduled for 8 September 2011. It supplements Research Paper 11/34, prepared for the Second Reading of the Bill in the Commons on 28 April 2011.

  • Research Briefing

    London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (Amendment) Bill

    This Bill makes a small number of technical amendments to the advertising and trading, ticket touting and traffic management provisions of the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006. These amendments cover the seizure of articles which contravene advertising and trading regulations; the parliamentary procedure and notice periods required when new advertising and trading regulations are introduced; the penalty for unauthorised sales of Olympic tickets; and traffic regulation and enforcement during the Games.

  • Research Briefing

    Public services (Social Enterprise and Social Value) Bill Bill No 6 of 2010/11

    The Bill attempts to strengthen the social enterprise business sector and make the concept of ‘social value’ more relevant and important in the placement and provision of public services. New duties will be placed upon central and local government authorities to publish explicit strategies for supporting these values and the public procurement process will need to reflect and measure them. This Paper was completed before a final version of the Bill was published.

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