Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been subject to an Unexplained Wealth Order since their inception, broken down by nationality; and what are the names of those people.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
15 unexplained wealth orders (UWOs) have been made on 4 cases. There are 3 orders in one case which relates to an Azerbaijan national, Zamira Hajiyeva. The other 3 cases concern a non EEA national,an Englishman and a Northern Irish woman.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been subject to proceedings under the (1) Criminal Finances Act 2017, and (2) Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, on the grounds of gross human rights abuse or violations, up to the latest date for which figures are available.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
There have been no proceedings under the provisions in the Criminal Finances Act 2017 relating to gross human rights abuses.
The Sanctions Act gives the UK powers to impose autonomous sanctions, however secondary legislation is required to establish individual sanctions regimes. Officials are currently working to design secondary legislation for a global human rights sanctions regime, which we have announced an intention to establish once we leave the EU. It is only once the secondary legislation is in force that we can impose sanctions on designated persons and announce those designations.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Rooker on 27 June 2017 (HL Deb, cols 399–401), what current investigations, if any, are taking place in relation to the deaths of (1) Scot Young, (2) Boris Berezovsky, (3) Stephen Moss, (4) Badri Patarkatsishvili, (5) Stephen Curtis, (6) Yuri Golubev, (7) Paul Castle, (8) Robert Curtis, (9) Johnny Elichaoff, (10) Alexander Litvinenko, (11) Matthew Puncher, (12) Igor Ponomarev, (13) Daniel McGrory, (14) Gareth Williams, and (15) Alexander Perepilichnyy.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Dissolution. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Rooker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 2 August (HL8713, HL9714, HL9715, and HL9716), what are the nationalities of those who have been subject to Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) since January; whether any further UWOs have been granted since 2 August; and if so, what are the nationalities of those who have been subject to such Orders.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The release of information, such as the nationality of a respondent who is the subject of a UWO, is a matter for the High Court. With regard to the current UWOs, the Court ruled that the applications for the UWOs should be held in private.
The Court subsequently ruled that the challenge to one of the UWOs should be held in public but with the reporting restriction that the respondent should not be identified. No further UWOs have been granted at this stage. The Home Office continues to work with law enforcement agencies to encourage their use.