UK and Gibraltar Prosecuting Authorities

(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)

Wednesday 3rd December 2014 Westminster Hall

[The Solicitor-General (Mr Robert Buckland)]

It is a pleasure, Mr Crausby, to serve under your chairmanship. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) for securing this debate at a timely moment, when the Joint Ministerial Council is meeting here in London and the Chief Minister of Gibraltar and those of other British overseas territories are with us. It is timely indeed, because it gives all Members of this House and all parties in this House an opportunity to reaffirm our strong support and commitment to Gibraltar and its work, not just in co-operation with the United Kingdom but with other territories and countries, in helping to fight international crime.

[Ian Paisley (North Antrim) (DUP)]

Will the Solicitor-General take it upon himself at the end of the debate to let the Chief Minister know of the unwavering support throughout this House and that it stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Gibraltar?

[The Solicitor-General]

I am happy to accept the hon. Gentleman’s exhortation. I hope to see the Chief Minister at the Foreign Office later today and I will convey the message of this House loud and clear that we support the work of our friends in Gibraltar and the prosecutorial authorities and indeed the Attorney General, Ricky Rhoda.

I can contribute to this debate by outlining the work of the Crown Prosecution Service and Serious Fraud Office, both of which the Attorney-General and I superintend in our role as Law Officers. Indeed, I am pleased to be able to tell my hon. Friend that the working relationship between the UK and Gibraltarian prosecuting authorities is strong and constructive.

As my hon. Friend recognises, the Government have set out to reinvigorate our relationship with the overseas territories, to increase the UK’s engagement with their Governments at all levels and to support them when required. I have just returned from a conference of Attorneys General of 10 of the UK’s overseas territories, including Gibraltar, with representatives from the United States and Canadian Departments of Justice. We met in Miami and discussed a range of topics relating to the rule of law and administration of justice in the overseas territories and sought to enhance our mutual co-operation on a range of matters. After three and a half days of discussion, my firm view is that the Attorneys General of each of our territories play a key role in helping to drive forward legal reform and to meet our wider ambitions.

Ensuring good governance and respect for the rule of law is a fundamental and vital platform for delivering security and prosperity for all our citizens. During the conference we discussed important topics including mutual legal assistance, extradition procedures, tackling bribery, fraud and corruption, improving legislative drafting processes, child safeguarding—a growing and important issue in many territories—and constitutional matters. A series of actions on those subjects was agreed, and I look forward to continuing our close liaison with the Attorney General of Gibraltar and the other overseas territories as we work to deliver them.

I turn to the work of the prosecuting authorities, starting with the Crown Prosecution Service. It is important to note that co-operation between the UK and Gibraltar is not confined to mutual legal assistance through the formal letter of request process. It also takes place, as my hon. Friend suggested, on a police-to-police basis. The appropriate avenue will depend on the nature of the request and the purpose for which the information or evidence is sought. Both the Crown Prosecution Service and the Serious Fraud Office work regularly with other judicial authorities using the established MLA channels. That is how countries request and provide assistance in obtaining evidence that is located in one country for use in criminal investigations and prosecutions in another. It is also used to obtain assistance in the tracing, restraint and confiscation of the proceeds of crime, which is particularly germane to the issues that have been raised today.

Letters of request from Gibraltar to the UK typically come via the United Kingdom central authority, which is based in the Home Office. The CPS will be involved in requests to restrain or confiscate assets here in the UK. The CPS and the SFO have worked with the Gibraltarian authorities in the past few years, and that has been of real benefit to both jurisdictions.

[Bob Stewart]

Is my hon. and learned Friend saying that to all intents and purposes, that which is legal in this country is legal in Gibraltar, and that which is illegal in Gibraltar is illegal in this country, too?

[The Solicitor-General]

That is a fair way of putting it. As my hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst has said, we will be entering into the justice and home affairs measures on 1 December, and Gibraltar has taken swift action to do likewise—to follow in lockstep with the UK. Those extra safeguards and means of mutual co-operation strengthen the ties that bind us.

I am sure that my hon. Friend will understand that it would not be appropriate for me to give specific examples because of the international expectation that MLA requests remain confidential. However, I can talk about some notable recent successes of the CPS, such as the securing of two convictions against individuals for fraudulently obtaining moneys from a vulnerable elderly relative. Assistance from Gibraltar helped to secure that conviction, and there was lawyer-to-lawyer contact to progress the case. I would like to mention some other examples of ongoing casework, ranging from organised crime—specifically drug trafficking—to fraud and identity theft. CPS lawyers have reported receiving exceptional assistance from Gibraltar, including a response to a request that was issued at very short notice following a change in position from the defence. In another case, a letter of request was sent to obtain banking evidence, and there were no problems with obtaining the material from Gibraltar.

[Keith Vaz]

That is very useful information, particularly in respect of the inquiries being undertaken by the Home Affairs Committee. Is the Solicitor-General telling the Chamber that there are no examples of people being prosecuted for money laundering in Gibraltar, either relating to drugs money—that is the main interest of the Select Committee—or otherwise?

[The Solicitor-General]

We are not aware of any prosecutions, but I will look into the matter further to give the right hon. Gentleman cast-iron information. I will write to him, if I may, on that point. I am grateful to him for helping to reinforce the consensus that exists in the House about the good criminal prosecution and investigation work that goes on in Gibraltar.

[Robert Neill]

Following on from that point, perhaps my hon. and learned Friend will confirm my own experience at the Bar, that very often jurisdiction as to where a prosecution takes place is but a small part of the bigger picture. Frequently, assistance given by authorities in one jurisdiction may lead to prosecutions elsewhere. The important test, with which Gibraltar completely complies, is the prevention of crime and the capture of criminals.

[The Solicitor-General]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The delicate network of interlocking mutual legal assistance is vital if we are to have a truly international approach to the fight against crime, which nowadays often exists in many jurisdictions and crosses many boundaries.

[Thomas Docherty]

Two specific allegations could be levelled against Gibraltar. The first is that it is a soft touch on the physical bringing of drugs into its ports; and the second is that it is a soft touch on the financial services-based introduction of laundered money. Will the Solicitor-General confirm, for the record, that Gibraltar’s ports are as safe as, if not safer than, UK ports and that its financial arrangements are as robust as those of the United Kingdom?

--- Later in debate ---

[The Solicitor-General]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving me the opportunity, on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government, to provide those assurances and to send the message clearly to Madrid that it is wrong to seek opportunities to tarnish Gibraltar’s reputation, particularly in relation to money laundering and drug smuggling. Gibraltar works unceasingly and tirelessly to address those allegations. This debate is a great opportunity for us to set the record straight.

In the time that I have remaining, I would like to talk briefly about the SFO. Like the CPS, the SFO normally works through MLA channels, but it also uses informal liaison. The international assistance team in the SFO considers the execution of matters that have arisen from Gibraltar, and the SFO also regularly makes MLA requests. I am pleased to report that liaison between the SFO and the Gibraltarian authorities is very good. The SFO has worked with the Gibraltarian authorities on several occasions in the last few years. It is a matter of record that the First Minister of Gibraltar gave evidence for the prosecution in an SFO case relating to GP Noble in 2011 and 2012. The SFO has also provided expert assistance and support to the Gibraltarian authorities in respect of operational procedure and best practice. For example, the SFO graphics team met the Royal Gibraltar police to discuss a number of issues, including the presentation of evidence at court.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst set out, Gibraltar has signed up to several international obligations, which put it high in international standings. We are assured that the anti-money laundering legislation in Gibraltar is in full compliance with its EU obligations and that it has been independently reviewed by the Financial Action Task Force, the International Monetary Fund and others. Gibraltar is well advanced on meeting its Financial Action Task Force recommendations and preparing for the fourth money laundering directive. Notably, Gibraltar has entered into the equivalent of 125 tax information exchange agreements, and it is committed to automatic tax exchange with the UK, the USA and some 90 other countries via the common reporting standard, which my hon. Friend referred to. In addition, the Gibraltar Financial Intelligence Unit, which is responsible for, among other things, the receiving and actioning of suspicious transaction reports, is a member of the international Egmont group and shares information systematically with members of the group around the world. Those examples further demonstrate how Gibraltar’s regulatory, law enforcement and intelligence authorities work hand in glove with their UK and international counterparts in the detection and prevention of crime.

I hope that the debate has made it crystal clear, both to my hon. Friend and other hon. Members, and to the wider world, that there is a strong, constructive and ongoing working relationship between the prosecution authorities in this country and in Gibraltar. It should be obvious from the summary I have provided that that co-operation spans both formal and informal channels, and that it includes joint working on casework and promoting best practice. As I mentioned at the outset, the Attorney-General and I are clear in our support for our counterparts and their teams in all the overseas territories, which very much includes Gibraltar. They play a central role in driving legal reform and upholding the rule of law, and we are pleased to be able to offer them our full support in that regard.