Parliamentarians can sometimes need watching carefully. The Criminal Justice Bill, where debate is due to start today, is a case in point. We have already pointed out some disturbing amendments proposed in the area of abortion. But there is more than that to worry about.
A last-minute government amendment, published in the final few days and available here (see Gov NC64-NC70), obliges a number of categories of people working with young people to report child abuse or any suspicion of it, including any information received from a third party, to the police or the local authority. Of itself breach of this duty carries no legal sanction (though professionals can expect to face regulatory consequences.) Fair enough, you might say. But that is not the end of it. There is also a proposed new Clause 78, which would make it a crime, carrying a potential seven year’s imprisonment, for anyone who knows that someone is subject to the otherwise unenforceable duty to report abuse to “engage in any conduct with the intention of preventing or deterring that person from complying with that duty”.
