Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any misuse of Interpol procedures for political purposes by member countries.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Interpol is a crucial organisation for the UK enabling police to police cooperation between 194 member countries.
Any misuse of Interpol is taken very seriously by the government. The Home Office continues to work with Interpol and the National Crime Agency (NCA), which acts as the UK’s National Central Bureau for Interpol, on this matter and strongly supports Interpol’s efforts to ensure systems are in place that protect individuals’ human rights.
Article 3 of Interpol’s Constitution forbids the organisation from undertaking any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the misuse of Interpol procedures for political purposes on the exposure of wrongdoing.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Interpol is a crucial organisation for the UK enabling police to police cooperation between 194 member countries.
Any misuse of Interpol is taken very seriously by the government. The Home Office continues to work with Interpol and the National Crime Agency (NCA), which acts as the UK’s National Central Bureau for Interpol, on this matter and strongly supports Interpol’s efforts to ensure systems are in place that protect individuals’ human rights.
Article 3 of Interpol’s Constitution forbids the organisation from undertaking any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of member states who have sought to misuse Interpol procedures for political purposes.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Interpol is a crucial organisation for the UK enabling police to police cooperation between 194 member countries.
Any misuse of Interpol is taken very seriously by the government. The Home Office continues to work with Interpol and the National Crime Agency (NCA), which acts as the UK’s National Central Bureau for Interpol, on this matter and strongly supports Interpol’s efforts to ensure systems are in place that protect individuals’ human rights.
Article 3 of Interpol’s Constitution forbids the organisation from undertaking any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to Interpol for reforms that would prevent member states misusing Interpol procedures for political purposes.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government views any allegation of misuse of Interpol’s systems very seriously and continues to work closely with Interpol to ensure the integrity of its systems. In November 2019, a senior UK lawyer was seconded to Interpol to support the work of its Notices and Diffusions Taskforce, a multidisciplinary unit which ensures legal compliance and prevents abuse of Interpol systems.
We continue to monitor the effectiveness of existing safeguards and will not hesitate to recommend further reforms to Interpol as necessary.
Interpol also has an independent review body, the Commission for the Control of Files (CFF), which seeks to ensure that the processing of personal information by Interpol is in compliance with Interpol’s regulations.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to Interpol to seek sanctions for member states that misuse Interpol procedures for political purposes.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government views any allegation of misuse of Interpol’s systems very seriously and continues to work closely with Interpol to ensure the integrity of its systems. In November 2019, a senior UK lawyer was seconded to Interpol to support the work of its Notices and Diffusions Taskforce, a multidisciplinary unit which ensures legal compliance and prevents abuse of Interpol systems.
We continue to monitor the effectiveness of existing safeguards and will not hesitate to recommend further reforms to Interpol as necessary.
Interpol also has an independent review body, the Commission for the Control of Files (CFF), which seeks to ensure that the processing of personal information by Interpol is in compliance with Interpol’s regulations.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the cost of the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Lord Bates
The costs to the Government for the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation since 2011 are set out below:
2011-2012: £213,100
2012-2013: £201,700
2013-2014: £213,100
2014-2015: £270,000 (plus an additional £350,800 for the statutory Investigatory Powers Review, as required by section 7 of the Data Protection and Investigatory Powers Act 2014)
2015-2016 (to the half year point in September): £135,800
It is not possible to provide an accurate breakdown of the Independent Reviewer’s costs prior to 2011.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of breaches of traffic laws and regulations by bicyclists in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Bates
No assessment has been made of the number of breaches of traffic laws and regulations by bicyclists in each of the last five years. This information is not held centrally. It is important that cyclists follow the rules of the Highway Code. It is an operational matter for local Chief Officers to enforce the law.