Member

Under the current drafting, the Secretary of State acts as investigator, prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner. The executive branch determines that a breach has occurred, rejects the organisation’s representations, issues the confirmation decision and demands a £17 million payment—with the High Court legally barred from reviewing the actual merits of that determination. This constitutional danger is compounded by the extraordinary veil of secrecy being thrown over these proceedings. Under Clause 50, in subsections (9) and (10), the Secretary of State can legally impose a strict non-disclosure requirement, prohibiting an organisation from even disclosing the existence or contents of a confirmation decision. A breach of this gagging order carries its own eye-watering penalty of up to £10 million, or £50,000 per day, under Clause 52. We are therefore contemplating a terrifying scenario whereby a British business can be fined £17 million in complete statutory secrecy, under a shadow regulatory regime operating entirely in the dark, with absolutely no right to have the merits of that devastating decision reviewed by an independent court of law.