HC Deb 13 November 1978 vol 958 cc26-7
51. Mr. Canavan

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

The Attorney-General (Mr. S. C. Silkin)

Soon.

Mr. Canavan

Will my right hon. and learned Friend remind the DPP of his statement to the House last week that action must be taken against Rhodesia sanctions breakers, without regard to the position or political party of the law breakers, especially in view of the apparent contradictions in the statements of former Cabinet Ministers and the embarrassed silence on the Opposition Front Bench, which has possibly been caused by the fact that one of the directors of Castrol was Mr. Thatcher?

The Attorney-General

I certainly re-collect the statement that I made to the House. In due course the Government will make known their decision.

Mr. Aitken

Does the Attorney-General accept, in the light of Mr. Justice Mars-Jones' recent comments, that he and the Director of Public Prosecutions made an expensive error of judgment in deciding to use section 1 of the Official Secrets Act, which relates to espionage, to prosecute journalists without the Crown offering any evidence—

Mr. Speaker

Order. The case to which the hon. Gentlemen is referring is still under way. He may feel that the particular issue that he is raising has been dealt with, but we had better avoid that case until it is completed. There will be plenty of time afterwards for hon. Members to raise it.

Mr. Aitken

I accept your ruling, Mr. Speaker, but the charges to which I was referring have been dropped.

Mr. Flannery

When my right hon. and learned Friend next meets the Director of Public Prosecutions, will he discuss with him the widespread lack of knowledge about the functions of the DPP and the difficulty that ordinary people have in understanding how he comes to make arbitrary decisions? For example, when the National Front invaded a civil liberties meeting in Manchester about a year ago, the Director would not bring prosecutions and a private prosecution was brought and the people involved were dealt with.

Can my right hon. and learned Friend discuss the matter with the DPP so that it can be made clearer on what basis the Director comes to his conclusions, many of which seem to be quite arbitrary?

The Attorney-General

To the best of my knowledge, the case to which my hon. Friend has referred is still sub judice. One of the persons convicted has appealed and I think that the appeal has not yet been heard. On the general question, I am constantly discussing with the Director methods of making as fair and thorough assessments as possible. Fortunately, the Director has been able to increase the number of staff in his department recently and that will make this task easier.