Developments (16 November 2005)
The Bill has finished its stages in the House of Commons. It will now receive its second reading (the reading when the principles behind the Bill are debated) in the House on Lords on Monday 21 November 2005. It is expected to be examined in greater detail at the Lords Committee stage, which we believe will take place in the week beginning Monday December 5 2005.
The Consortium of library organisations seeking to get changes to the Bill has now grown to include 13 organisations. These are:
The British Library
The British and Irish Association of Law Librarians
Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals
Consortium of Research Libraries in the British Isles
Library & Information Services Council (Northern Ireland)
Museums, Libraries & Archives Council
National Library of Scotland
National Library of Wales
Research Information Network
Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries
Scottish Library & Information Council
Society of Chief Librarians
Society of College, National & University Libraries
The Consortium is seeking to work with Government to make the changes that will prevent library and information professionals from being criminalized simply for going about their normal day to day tasks. In order to achieve this meetings will be taking place with Secretary of State for Culture and, separately, with the Home Office. There is also regular contact with officials from these departments.
The Consortium has also enlisted the help of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Libraries & Information Management. Letters setting out the concerns of the Consortium were sent to all MPs who are members of the All Party Group plus a large number of other MPs before the Committee stage of the Bill. During the Report stage of the Terrorism Bill in the Commons, Lyn Brown (Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Libraries and Information Management) and Rob Marris tabled a “probing” amendment designed to get the library issue debated. Unfortunately time ran out before the amendment could be debated, although some of the other amendments that were passed will prove useful to libraries.
The attention of the Consortium has now passed to the House of Lords. We have sent out a briefing note to a large number of peers and are in discussion with a few peers closely involved with libraries, including Lord Tope the Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Libraries & Information Management. It remains the hope of the Consortium that the Government will come forward with the necessary changes to the Bill to address our concerns. If not we will be seeking to get a number of amendments considered at the House of Lords Committee stage.
Original Posting (26 October 2005)
The Terrorism Bill had its second reading on Wednesday 26 October 2005 and contains clauses (2 and 3) which are likely to be problematic for libraries and information services in all sectors. They cover the dissemination of terrorist publications, and in view of the wide and uncertain definition of what may constitute a terrorist publication, librarians and their governing bodies/institutions would be at risk of prosecution as the clauses currently stand. Lord Carlile, in his capacity as independent reviewer of anti-terrorist legislation, has expressed a concern about the potential for these clauses to criminalise academic and parliamentary research and serious journalism: his remarks may be said to apply equally to libraries and information services following their normal lawful business. Concern has also been raised about clause 17, defining offences abroad, which puts on an equal footing, for the purposes of the Bill, things done in the UK and the same things done at (say) a university campus in overseas country.
Today (Wednesday 26 October 2005), representatives of library bodies met and agreed the text of a letter which has been sent to the Home Secretary, with copies to the Secretaries of State for Culture and Education and the all-party libraries group of MPs. The ad hoc group has agreed to meet again on Monday (31 October 2005) to discuss possible follow-up action, since the timetable for the legislation is very short.
The members of the ad hoc group are: Toby Bainton (SCONUL), Andy Birleson (MLA), Guy Daines (CILIP), Clive Field (The British Library), Robin Green (CURL), Gordon Hunt (National Library of Scotland), and Barbara Tearle (BIALL). The letter has been signed by all those organisations and also by SCURL and SLIC.
Updated: 23 September 2008