§ 28. Mr. MullinTo ask the Attorney-General when he next expects to meet the Director of Public Prosecutions to discuss the appeal of the six men convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings; and if he will make a statement.
§ The Solicitor-GeneralI meet the Director of Public Prosecutions frequently to discuss matters of departmental interest.
§ Mr. MullinThe six men convicted of the Birmingham pub bombings now face their 17th Christmas in prison for offences of which many people believe they were entirely innocent. The Home Secretary acted with commendable speed in August in referring the case back within two days to the Court of Appeal. The Director of Public Prosecutions has so far taken three months to set a timetable for the appeal to take place. When will that appeal take place?
§ The Solicitor-GeneralThe date of the appeal is primarily a matter for the court, subject to its listing arrangements. The court can be expected to hear the matter once all parties are ready. As the hon. Gentleman should, and probably does, know, since my right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary referred the case on 29 August, it has been necessary to collect and collate an enormous mass of written material. About 130 files have fairly recently been disclosed to the defence after careful collation, together with important scientific evidence concerning the electrostatic evidence which was the basis of my right hon. and learned Friend's reference and further important evidence in relation to the handling of explosives.
§ Mr. MullinWhen?
§ The Solicitor-GeneralThe matter will be brought before the court when the defence has had the opportunity to assimilate that material.
§ Mr. MullinThe defence is ready.
§ The Solicitor-GeneralThe hon. Gentleman should listen to the answer. It is rather foolish of him to say that the defence is entirely ready when it has just received a large bundle of material which it will wish to look at extremely carefully before bringing the matter before the court. The material is with the defence and the matter can now proceed.
§ Mr. StanbrookIf the evidence of all criminal trials were to be as thoroughly examined as in this case, no one would ever remain convicted.
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. This matter is sub judice, as the hon. Gentleman should know, and he should therefore be very careful what he says.
§ Mr. StanbrookIs it right that we should try so hard to discredit our own system of justice?
§ The Solicitor-GeneralWe have a careful system which includes the power of the Home Secretary in appropriate circumstances to refer a case again and, in exceptional circumstances, for a second time, to the Court of Appeal. The case has been referred to the Court of Appeal. It is, of course, sub judice, and it will be heard as soon as the parties are ready and the court gives a date.