DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS (Hansard, 31 January 1977)

§ 38. Mr. Canavan
asked the Attorney-General when he next expects to meet the Director of Public Prosecutions.

§ 39. Mr. Skinner
asked the Attorney-General what recent communication he has had with the Director of Public Prosecutions.

§ 42. Mr. Christopher Price
asked the Attorney-General when he next intends to meet the Director of Public Prosecutions.

§ 43. Mr. Gow
asked the Attorney-General when he next proposes to meet the Director of Public Prosecutions.

§ The Attorney-General
I meet the Director of Public Prosecutions and receive communications from him as often as the need arises.

§ Mr. Canavan
Will my right hon. and learned Friend remind the House that the powers of the Director of Public Prosecutions do not extend to Scotland, and will he confirm that the recent injunction granted by the Court of Appeal does not extend to Post Office workers in Scotland? Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that many of us in the Labour movement who wholeheartedly supported him in his efforts to defend the rights of this House against the court would also defend the rights of Scottish Post Office workers to demonstrate against the apartheid régime in South Africa?

§ The Attorney-General
Fortunately, I am not responsible for Scots law. That is for my right hon. and learned Friend the Lord Advocate. As to the second part of my hon. Friend's question, I hope that I am fulfilling my duty to defend both the proper rôle of Parliament and the proper rôle of the courts.

§ Mr. Gow
Did the Attorney-General consult the Director of Public Prosecutions about his decision in the case of the Post Office union, and has he yet decided whether he will exercise the right that has been given to him to appeal to another place?

§ The Attorney-General
My answer to the first part of the question is "No", because we were not concerned with a criminal prosecution. As the hon. Gentleman knows, the case involved a civil remedy for an injunction. I consulted all the advisers that I normally consult in relation to such issues. I have already answered the second part of the question. I am still considering it.

§ Mr. Price
Is the Attorney-General aware that there is grave dissatisfaction both with the length of time that the DPP's office takes to consider some of these cases and with the adequacy with which the office seems to have considered them? When he next meets Sir Norman Skelhorn or his successor, will he discuss with him Government plans for a full, independent prosecution process in England which is independent of the police? Will he also say something about how such preparations are going?

§ The Attorney-General
It would be going too far to say that the Government have such plans, but of course there have been a number of suggestions, including those by the organisation Justice, about the prosecution processes in general. That is a matter with which my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary is closely concerned, and he and I, when necessary, discuss the matter, as we do with the DPP. I can assure my hon. Friend that there is no complacency. But there are staff and other difficulties which we are trying to overcome as best we can, pending, perhaps, a final decision about what the prosecution process should be.