§ VISCOUNT ULLSWATERMy Lords, I beg to ask the Lord Chancellor whether he has received any Report from Mr. Justice Avory's Committee upon the question of the legal presumption that wives are under the coercion of their husbands in the commission of crimes in certain circumstances; whether the Report of the Committee will be published, or, if not, whether the Lord Chancellor will announce its purport; and whether His Majesty's Government contemplate the introduction of a Bill to carry out the recommendations of Mr. Justice Avory's Committee if any alteration of the present law is suggested by the Committee.
§ THE LORD CHANCELLORMy Lords, the Report of the Committee which I appointed to consider the responsibility of the wife for crimes committed under the coercion of the husband has been published, and it may be obtained at the Vote Office by any noble Lord who has not got the document already. The noble Viscount asks me whether it is proposed to take any steps on the Report. The document has only recently been at the disposal of members of the Government, and it has not been considered by the Government as a Government. I have applied my own mind to it with some care, and I am of opinion that the case recommended by the Committee in a difficult matter has been established. My own advice to the Government will undoubtedly be that they should legislate upon the lines of the proposals contained in the Report of the Committee. I am hopeful that the Government may adopt that view, but I am not in a position at this moment to carry the matter further.