§ 20. Mr. Andrew Turner (Isle of Wight) (Con)What steps she is taking to ensure consistency of decision making in prosecutions for corruption. [187721]
§ The Solicitor-General (Ms Harriet Harman)Consistency of decision making in prosecutions for corruption is ensured by the Crown Prosecution Service following the code for Crown prosecutors, which requires them to consider the sufficiency of evidence and whether a prosecution would be in the public interest, 862 and, secondly, by the requirement in all cases of corruption that a Law Officer consent to the prosecution.
§ Mr. TurnerI understand that the common law offences of corruption and that of abuse of public office are more or less a dead letter and that it is very difficult to secure a successful prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1916. Are Ministers looking at how effective that legislation is and at whether it should be more effective?
§ The Solicitor-GeneralThe hon. Gentleman puts his concerns well and we agree with those views. There are great difficulties in prosecuting and that is one of the reasons why the Government have been considering new laws on corruption. There has been pre-legislative scrutiny based on a draft Bill produced by the Law Commission in 1998, and in due course a new Bill will be brought forward to deal with the important issue of tackling corruption that the hon. Gentleman rightly raises.