Commentary on Sections Provisions relating to passports Section 39: Amendments of legislation relating to passports
209.Section 39 makes a series of amendments to existing legislation where currently passports are mentioned to enable ID cards to be used in circumstances where a passport may currently be required.
210.This section also amends legislation where a person is required to surrender his passport and has an ID card that is valid for travel. The amendment to the Football Spectators Act 1989 by subsections (1) and (2) ensures that a requirement to surrender a passport includes a requirement to surrender an ID card able to be used as a travel document.
211.Subsections (3) and (4) make a similar amendment to the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 where courts can issue travel restriction orders in cases of serious drug offenders leaving prison.
212.Subsection (5) allows amendments to be made to existing legislation, so that where currently that legislation includes a reference to a passport, a reference to an ID card may be added. This is subject to the negative resolution procedure as far as subordinate legislation is concerned and the affirmative resolution procedure if primary legislation is being amended.
213.This power is necessary to enable the ID card, as a highly reliable form of proof of identity, to be used in the widest range of circumstances and to facilitate its use as a travel document.