HC Deb 20 May 1971 vol 817 cc1498-9
10. Mr. Clinton Davis

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is satisfied that magistrates' courts are complying fully with the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act, 1967, relating to bail; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Carlisle

This is a matter on which my right hon. Friend is consulting the organisations concerned with magistrates' courts.

Mr. Davis

Is the hon. and learned Gentleman aware that Section 18(7) of the Criminal Justice Act requires that where bail is refused the court should inform unrepresented defendants of their right to appeal to a judge in chambers, and that by the same Section the court must give written notice of the grounds of refusal to an unrepresented defendant? In view of the report which has recently been published by Mr. Zander, there is ground for believing that courts are not complying with those requirements. Will the Under-Secretary look into the question very carefully, as a matter of great urgency, bearing in mind the way in which these factors impinge upon our civil liberties?

Mr. Carlisle

I am aware of the provisions of Section 18 of the 1967 Act, which the hon. Gentleman correctly stated. It is as a result of the evidence brought forward by Mr. Zander that my right hon. Friend is consulting the organisations concerned to see whether those provisions are being properly implemented.

Mr. Grieve

Will my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary bear in mind when considering the matter that in the past two years large numbers of cases have come before the courts of persons who have committed offences whilst on bail? When making his representations to the magistrates, will he bear in mind the considerable difficulties they have in deciding whether to grant bail in particular circumstances?

Mr. Carlisle

The decision whether to grant bail in particular circumstances must be a matter for the individual court. The matter on which I said that my right hon. Friend was consulting the organisations concerned with the magistrates' courts was the implementation of subsections (7) and (8) Section 18 of the 1967 Act.

Mr. Elystan Morgan

What percentage of those persons not given bail are afterwards acquitted or, of those found guilty, are not sentenced to imprisonment?

Mr. Carlisle

I cannot without notice give the exact proportion. I know that the figure of those not eventually sent to prison is substantial, but there are many reasons why they may have been refused bail in the first place. We are looking into the whole question of bail, and are in particular considering the possibility of a bail hostel.