§ 12. Mr. Fatchettasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce measures to amend the Bail Act so that magistrates may not impose unreasonable bail conditions.
§ Mr. MellorNo, Sir. The Bail Act 1976 specifies the purposes for which conditions may be attached to the grant of bail. A defendant who considers conditions imposed on him are unreasonable can apply to the High Court to have them varied.
§ Mr. FatchettIs the Minister aware that during the current miners' dispute the Bail Act is being used to challenge certain fundamental political rights? Does he know, for example, that in some instances miners have been restricted from attending or speaking at meetings that relate to the industrial dispute? With that evidence, which may not have been available to the Minister before—it is clear that certain evidence is not available to the Home Office—does he feel that it would be sensible now to amend the Act, so that people do not regard it as a means of enforcing the Government's industrial policy and a means of defeating the miners in the present dispute?
§ Mr. MellorThat is a fanciful suggestion, because the Act was introduced by the previous Labour Government. If the hon. Member had been a member of this place at that time he would no doubt have voted for the enactment of the measure. Magistrates have a duty to attach conditions to bail to try to ensure that further offences are not committed by a defendant while on bail. If a defendant is aggrieved he should go to the courts, where proper redress is available if the circumstances permit it, and not complain to me.
§ Mr. HoltWill my hon. Friend note that my constituents would like to see the Act tightened rather than relaxed? One of my constituents was put to death by a man on bail who was already on licence from prison, having committed arson. He subsequently knifed a man because he did not like the way he was looking at him. Finally, he put another man to death because he involved himself in a fight. If he had not been granted bail, the young man would still be alive. We want bail conditions to be tightened, not relaxed.
§ Mr. MellorWhatever Parliament may decree, the granting of bail depends on magistrates' discretion in the circumstances of individual cases. It is to be hoped that magistrates always get these decisions right, but occasionally there are distressing examples of things going wrong. I am not sure whether the amendment of the Act would have prevented the tragedy which my hon. Friend has put before us.
§ Mr. BarronWill the Minister tell us why bail conditions given in March by magistrates in Mansfield that applicants should not visit National Coal Board premises other than their place of work have been broadened 501 considerably five weeks after that? Is it not wrong for the Minister to say that aggrieved applicants may apply to the High Court if the bail conditions are any different, when more than 2,000 people have been arrested and movement is now restricted?
§ Mr. MellorThe hon. Gentleman seems to be blissfully unaware of one of our fundamental freedoms, which is that Ministers do not adjudicate on the validity of court decisions. I am sorry that that approach to our freedoms is finding little sympathy on the Opposition Benches.