§ 30. Mr. Bowen Wells (Hertford and Stortford)When he expects to appoint a new Director of Public Prosecutions. [51717]
§ The Attorney-GeneralAn open competition is at present being conducted under the auspices of the first civil service commissioner. I expect an appointment to be made in the autumn.
§ Mr. WellsThe Attorney-General has not really answered the question asked by my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for North-East Bedfordshire (Sir N. Lyell) about the implementation of the Glidewell report—
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. The hon. Gentleman's question must relate to the Director of Public Prosecutions, as it says on the Order Paper.
§ Mr. WellsI am coming to the appointment of 42 Crown prosecutors, whom the Attorney-General promised would be appointed by 1 April this year. He ordered that they should be appointed on 27 May, but a study of the comprehensive spending review suggests that those Crown prosecutors will not be appointed until the end of the Parliament—
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. The hon. Gentleman's original question to the Attorney-General was about when the right hon. and learned Gentleman expects to appoint a new Director of Public Prosecutions—appointment in the singular. Is that not what the Order Paper says?
§ Mr. WellsYes, but the DPP has to make those appointments. My question is: when are those appointments going to be made, and is the money available to make them?
§ The Attorney-GeneralNow we are there. The answer, very simply, is that the post of the new DPP has been advertised; we have had responses, which will be considered over the summer; and in the early autumn, I hope, an appointment will be made. Of course, the hon. Gentleman is right to say that one has to have a DPP in post first; but once the new DPP is in post, it follows naturally that we can proceed as quickly as practicable, having regard to civil service considerations, to appoint the new chief Crown prosecutors. One follows the other.
§ Mr. David Winnick (Walsall, North)Will not one of the tasks of the new DPP be to try to ensure that those responsible for the murder of Stephen Lawrence are brought to justice? Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that the Lawrence case thus far is a denial of justice as great as the miscarriage of justice in the case of Derek Bentley, who was hanged in January 1953?
§ The Attorney-GeneralI know of my hon. Friend's deep and long-standing concern about the Lawrence case. Individual cases are for the CPS and important matters are for the director herself. Obviously she, or her successor, will have to consider the evidence as it stands.