HC Deb 03 May 1923 vol 163 c1589
28. Mr. BRIANT

asked the Home Secretary if his attention has been called to a case in which a man was charged with being the father of an illegitimate child, but was discharged at once owing to the plaintiff immediately stating that he was not the man against whom she wished the charge to be made; and whether he will consider the possibility of devising a method of preliminary identification which will prevent an innocent man being subjected to a humiliating ordeal in an open court when his innocence could at once have been proved without any appearance in a public court?

Mr. LOCKER-LAMPSON

My right hon. Friend cannot think of any means of precluding absolutely the possibility of such an incident as this. I would point out that proceedings for determining the paternity of an illegitimate child and making the father liable for its maintenance are not criminal proceedings, but are taken on complaint by the child's mother.