§ Mr. Alex Carlileasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to abolish or reduce the use of the unruly certificate by the courts in England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MellorMy right hon. Friend proposes to introduce an order defining more restrictively than does the Certificates of Unruly Character (Conditions) Order 1977 the circumstances in which a 15 or 16-year-old boy may be remanded to a prison department establishment. In particular, he proposes that the power should be confined to cases where the boy has been charged with murder, attempted murder, rape or certain other equally serious offences. He is also considering whether there are other ways in which the range of cases where remands to a prison department establishment is possible might be reduced to the minimum.
§ Mr. Alex Carlileasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unruly certificates were 546W granted by the courts in England and Wales in respect of 15 and 16-year-old males in each year from 1980 to 1985, and during the first 10 weeks of 1986.
§ Mr. MellorThe first column in the following table shows the number of certificates of unruliness issued in respect of boys aged 15 or 16. A fresh certificate is required each time a boy is remanded under the unruliness certification procedure, and the second column in the table shows the number of boys aged 14 to 16 first received into prisons and remand centres, on remand before or during trial, under the procedure. Information for 1986 is not yet available.
Certificates for boys aged 15 or 16 Boys aged 14*, 15 or 16 1980 2,748 1,910 1981 2,494 1,766 1982 2,270 1,544 1983 1,829 1,507 1984 1,699 †l,441 1985 ‡ — †l,513 * The unruliness certification procedure ceased to be available for 14 year old boys on 31 March 1981. † Provisional. ‡ Central recording of this information ceased at the end of 1984.