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Category: Criminal Justice

  • Steve Reed – 2021 Comments on Dominic Raab Defending Rule Breaking

    Steve Reed – 2021 Comments on Dominic Raab Defending Rule Breaking

    The comments made by Steve Reed, the Shadow Justice Secretary, on 21 December 2021.

    Dominic Raab has spent hours this month taking the public for fools instead of dealing with the massive problems the Conservatives have created in the justice system.

    Raab and this high-tax, soft-on-crime Conservative Government should be tackling the courts backlog and raising the pitifully low conviction rate for rape in this country.

    It is yet another slap in the face of the British public, who will rightly think that it is one rule for Boris Johnson and this Government, and another rule for everyone else.

    Raab needs to stop wasting time defending the indefensible and start doing his job.

  • Dominic Raab – 2021 Statement on the Department of Justice

    Dominic Raab – 2021 Statement on the Department of Justice

    The statement made by Dominic Raab, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, in the House of Commons on 15 December 2021.

    I am today announcing the publication of Sir Christopher Bellamy’s “Independent Review of Criminal Legal Aid” report.

    Since his appointment as chair of the review at the end of last year, Sir Christopher has undertaken a “whole-system” review of criminal legal aid fee schemes and the market of providers in England and Wales, considering its role as an enabler of many functions of the criminal justice system. Throughout his review, Sir Christopher has been supported by a dedicated expert advisory panel including legal practitioners, academics and members of the judiciary. Evidence to the review has been wide-ranging, reflecting the experiences of the legal profession, victims, witnesses, and defendants. I would like to thank Sir Christopher for his dedication in undertaking this important review and members of the expert advisory panel and other contributors for their comprehensive work.

    I am extremely grateful to members of the Bar, the solicitor profession and chartered legal executives for their continued professionalism, dedication, and adaptability in delivering vital public services, particularly against the challenges of the pandemic, including their commitment to reducing court backlogs.

    Sir Christopher has set out his vision for the role of legal aid in an efficient and effective criminal justice system. I recognise the importance of remuneration in delivering long-term sustainability of the market and I will consider his recommendations on this matter very carefully.

    Beyond the important issue of funding, I welcome many of the principles underpinning his vision for the role of legal aid in an efficient and effective criminal justice system. I agree that data-sharing and transparency can enable us to make a better assessment of the efficiency, incentives, costs and effectiveness of criminal legal aid. My Department is continuing to explore ways to improve the availability and accessibility of data across the criminal justice system. Alongside the review, the Government have supported greater transparency by launching criminal justice system scorecards, which bring together data on a range of performance measures.

    I am committed to ensuring defendants and other users of criminal legal aid services have access to high-quality advice from a diverse range of practitioners. I will carefully review Sir Christopher’s findings and consider where there are opportunities for the Government and the legal professions to work together to improve diversity to achieve a more equal gender and ethnicity balance within the profession and to support young barristers after pupillage.

    I also recognise the importance of ensuring suitably experienced advice is available as early in a case as possible, so that cases are resolved at the earliest opportunity, increasing efficiency and improving outcomes in the criminal justice system. Sir Christopher makes specific recommendations on pre-charge engagement, which I will consider carefully.

    It is important that the provision of criminal legal aid services meets the needs of its users, which may differ between regions. We will carefully examine the findings in the review around the potential for improving local outcomes, and in particular the potential future role of local criminal justice boards.

    Beyond Sir Christopher’s review, the Government continue to support the defence profession and the wider criminal justice system. The Government have committed to invest £2.2 billion between 2022-23 and 2024-25 to meet increased demand on the criminal justice system from the additional 20,000 police officers and to fund the system’s recovery from covid-19. As part of the latest spending review, the Government have also committed over £200 million across the spending review period to complete the £1.3 billion court reform programme by the end of 2023. The court reform programme is an important step towards digitising court and tribunal services and enhancing the experience of their users.

    In his review, Sir Christopher notes that listing decisions are for the judiciary. He also notes that how cases are listed is important to efficiency and to the experience of victims, witnesses and practitioners. We will consider Sir Christopher’s analysis to see where we can support further improvements.

    My Department will continue to work with legal professionals and the judiciary on the future of remote hearings. As with listing, while the format of hearings is a judicial function, there are issues to consider around consistency.

    We will consider Sir Christopher’s findings fully, and consult before taking decisions regarding his specific recommendations. It is right that such a detailed report receives the thorough consideration that it deserves, while giving the legal profession an indicative timeline. Therefore, I intend to publish a full response no later than the end of March 2022 alongside a consultation on all policy proposals.

    Sir Christopher’s report can be found on gov.uk and I have placed copies in the Libraries of both Houses.

  • Rachel Maclean – 2021 Statement on Immigration Data Sharing

    Rachel Maclean – 2021 Statement on Immigration Data Sharing

    The statement made by Rachel Maclean, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Office, in the House of Commons on 15 December 2021.

    Today, I am pleased to announce the publication of the Home Office’s review into data sharing arrangements between the Home Office and police on migrant victims and witnesses of crime with insecure immigration status.

    The review follows a commitment made in response to recommendation 2 of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services “Safe to Share” report, published in December 2020.

    Having considered the views of domestic abuse and modern slavery sector groups the Home Office review acknowledges the concerns raised around the current data sharing arrangements and recognises that there is room for improvement to give migrant victims greater confidence to report crimes committed against them.

    The Home Office is committed to supporting the reporting of crime affecting anyone and this includes migrants who have insecure immigration status. Current data sharing practices between the police and the Home Office are essential in protecting those most vulnerable and protecting the public from individuals who are considered to pose a risk of harm to communities.

    The review recommends establishing an immigration enforcement migrant victims protocol as an alternative to a data sharing firewall and to give greater transparency to victims on how their data will be shared. The protocol will set out that no immigration enforcement action should be taken against that victim while investigation and prosecution proceedings are ongoing, and the victim is receiving support and advice to make an application to regularise their stay. It will set out, in line with the code of practice for victims rights, what information and signposting IE could offer to migrant victims to help them regularise their stay and thereby reduce the threat of coercion and control by their perpetrators.

    The review sets out a commitment to identify safeguards to mitigate the deterrence effect of data sharing and explore analytical options to assess the barriers to reporting crime(s) amongst migrants with insecure immigration status within the UK, to identify further initiatives that could encourage reporting.

    The police and Home Office will develop and implement a comprehensive stakeholder and outreach engagement programme designed to promote reporting of crime amongst migrants with irregular immigration status. A key component of this work will focus on building trust and confidence in immigration enforcement and police activities in supporting migrant victims.

    The review has been laid before the House and will also be available on www.gov.uk.

  • Priti Patel – 2021 Comments About Increased Funding to Tackle Crime

    Priti Patel – 2021 Comments About Increased Funding to Tackle Crime

    The comments made by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, on 16 December 2021.

    Crimes including theft, burglary and knife crime are down, we’ve got an additional 11,053 police officers on our streets, and we’ve shut down 1,500 drugs lines which exploit the young and the vulnerable.

    But we must go further and faster to make our communities even safer, so today I am giving our excellent police forces and law enforcement agencies more funding to do just that, in line with our Beating Crime Plan.

    Reducing crime is a top priority for this government and I will continue working with police leaders to ensure this unprecedented investment results in less crime and fewer victims.

  • Kit Malthouse – 2021 Statement on Stephen Port Inquest

    Kit Malthouse – 2021 Statement on Stephen Port Inquest

    The statement made by Kit Malthouse, the Minister for Crime and Policing, in the House of Commons on 13 December 2021.

    I am sure the thoughts of the whole House are with the families and friends of Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth, and Jack Taylor. The stories we have all read, of their lives and terrible deaths, have moved and horrified the country.

    The Government and the people we serve expect the highest standards from the police as they carry out their vital work protecting the public and investigating serious crimes. The conclusions of the inquest have shown that those standards were not met, and that investigative failures probably contributed to the deaths of three of the young men. The Metropolitan police has accepted as much. There are now serious questions for it to answer. It is profoundly important that the force takes responsibility for past failings and makes sure they are not repeated.

    The primarily accountability body for the Met is the Mayor of London and the London Assembly, but the Metropolitan Police Service has assured us it is putting in place significant improvements, including: more and better trained investigators; new structures so that intelligence teams, specialists and officers on the ground can work more closely to identify and link crimes much earlier; and work to develop a greater understanding of the drug GHB and its use as a weapon in sexual assaults. It is also essential that the police build trust with all London’s communities and that includes LGBT+ community. I know that the Commissioner and her team are committed to doing so, at a time when the trust the public have in them has been seriously shaken by recent events.

    It is, of course, right that the police handling of cases such as these is subject to independent scrutiny. Her Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary and fire and rescue services has been asked by the deputy Mayor of London and the commissioner to conduct an inspection into the standard of the Metropolitan Police Service’s investigations, and the Independent Office for Police Conduct is now assessing whether to reopen, either in full or in part, the investigation into the way that the Metropolitan Police Service handled the inquiries into the deaths of these young men.

    The police perform an enormously important function in our society. It is a job that, on the whole, they do with skill, courage and professionalism. Only last Thursday, I attended the police bravery awards and heard stories of selfless heroism, but when things go wrong, it is profoundly important that lessons are learned and applied. We will continue to hold the Metropolitan police service and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime to account in making sure that the failures highlighted by these truly awful cases are addressed.

  • Steve Reed – 2021 Comments on Human Rights Laws

    Steve Reed – 2021 Comments on Human Rights Laws

    The comments made by Steve Reed, the Shadow Justice Secretary, on 14 December 2021.

    Our criminal justice system is in crisis with record backlogs in the Crown courts, huge delays in prosecuting criminals, and shamefully low conviction rates for rape and sexual offences. But Dominic Raab is ignoring all that so he can tinker with human rights laws as a distraction from the avalanche of corruption that has overwhelmed this out-of-touch Conservative Government.

    Ministers should be focussing on sorting out the failures in our courts, prisons, and probation services that are stoking, rather than stopping, crime. Senior figures from GCHQ, MI5 and MI6 have already warned that the Government’s politicised changes to human rights law could make the UK less safe by making it more difficult to fight terrorism.

    Labour will oppose the Human Rights Act being ripped to shreds by a Conservative Government planning to endanger the public by changing the rules to protect themselves.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2021 Statement on Stephen Port Inquest

    Sadiq Khan – 2021 Statement on Stephen Port Inquest

    The statement made by Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, on 11 December 2021.

    My thoughts today are with the families and friends of Anthony Walgate, Gabriel Kovari, Daniel Whitworth and Jack Taylor.

    The evidence given to this inquest was deeply upsetting, and the quality of the investigation carried out by the Metropolitan Police Service at the time of the murders has raised a number of concerns. The impact this has had on the victims’ families and friends – on top of the devastating trauma of the murder of their loved ones – is profoundly distressing, and has damaged the confidence of the LGBTQ+ community in the police.

    While the Met Police has apologised for its failings and made changes since these horrific murders were committed, I have asked Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services [HMICFRS] to conduct an independent inspection into the standards of investigations carried out by the Met Police and ensure there is a clear plan of action.

    It is vital that London’s LGBTQ+ community has confidence in our police, and Baroness Casey’s independent review into the Met’s culture and standards, will address the issues of misogyny, sexism, racism and homophobia, and scrutinise police processes and standards of behaviour amongst officers and staff.

    These young men and their families deserved so much better and I will do everything in my power to make sure that the failings that contributed to the deaths of these innocent young men can never be repeated.

  • Alex Chalk – 2021 Comments on Sentencing of Alfie Spain and Freddie Hanratty

    Alex Chalk – 2021 Comments on Sentencing of Alfie Spain and Freddie Hanratty

    The comments made by Alex Chalk, the Solicitor General, on 10 December 2021.

    Spain and Hanratty set off from London with the sole intention of committing these violent robberies. They inflicted a terrible ordeal on the occupants of the properties they targeted, and the victims will be suffering the effects for a long time. I hope the Court’s decision to increase these sentences can bring some comfort to all of those affected.

  • Victoria Atkins – 2021 Comments on New Prison Name in Glen Parva

    Victoria Atkins – 2021 Comments on New Prison Name in Glen Parva

    The comments made by Victoria Atkins, the Prisons Minister, on 10 December 2021.

    We want our new, modern prison in Glen Parva to be rooted in its community. That’s why we are extending an invitation to local people to help choose its name.

    The prison will create hundreds of jobs when open – giving a major boost to the local economy and helping to protect the public.

  • Metropolitan Police – 2021 Statement on Downing Street Christmas Party

    Metropolitan Police – 2021 Statement on Downing Street Christmas Party

    The statement made by the Metropolitan Police on 8 December 2021.

    We are aware of footage obtained by ITV News relating to alleged breaches of the Health Protection Regulations at a government building in December 2020.

    It is our policy not to routinely investigate retrospective breaches of the Covid-19 regulations, however the footage will form part of our considerations.