HC Deb 17 January 1989 vol 145 cc139-41W
Mr. Amess

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for a review of the management structures of magistrates courts.

Mr. Hurd

The magistrates courts occupy a central position in the criminal justice system. I greatly value the contribution which locally based lay magistrates and their staff make to the effective operation of the courts and the criminal justice system in general. The present arrangements for the management of magistrates courts date substantially from 1949; since then there has been a considerable increase in the volume and complexity of their work and in the resources used by them. Against this background, I think it timely to examine radically the management and organisational structure of magistrates courts and the arrangements which govern their resources and their use with a view to identifying how these might be improved. I have therefore set in hand a scrutiny of magistrates courts with the following terms of reference:

  1. (i) to review the present arrangements governing the distribution, management and control of resources in magistrates courts;
  2. (ii) with due regard to the advantages of a locally based system of summary justice, to make recommendations to ensure that the mechanisms, at national and local level, for determining resource levels and resource management and control are best suited to the efficient, economic and effective discharge of the responsibilities of the magistrates courts;

Persons detained and charged under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1984 by length of detention, legislation under which charged and outcome of charge
Number of persons (Great Britain)
Length of detention Total detained Number charged Outcome of charge
Under the Act Under other legislation Found guilty Other outcome Awaiting trial
1986
Less than 1 day 73 6 2 8 — —
1 day and less than 2 days 74 5 8 12 — 1
2 days and less than 3 days 9 — — — — —
3 days and less than 4 days 14 — 3 3 — —
4 days and less than 5 days 13 1 6 7 — —
5 days and less than 6 days 8 1 4 5 — —
6 days and less than 7 days 7 — — — — —
7 days 4 — — — — —
Total 202 13 23 35 — 1
1987
Less than 1 day 66 4 1 5 — —
1 day and less than 2 days 110 4 4 5 — 3
2 days and less than 3 days 9 — 3 1 2 —

  1. (iii) to make proposals for any changes in management structures in the magistrates courts service;
  2. (iv) to identify the potential for further action to reduce unit costs in magistrates courts, shorten delays and improve fine enforcement; and
  3. (v) to ensure that recommendations under paragraphs (i) to (iv) above are consistent with the legitimate interests of defendants, parties to civil proceedings, legal representatives, witnesses and the various criminal justice agencies.

The scrutiny will be carried out by a team of officials led by Mr. Julian Le Vay (grade 5, Home Office) under the ministerial supervision of my hon. Friend the Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Mr. Patten). The scrutiny will begin in mid-February and I expect to receive its report in June.

Ms. Mowlam

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been charged under the prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1984 since enactment of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act; and how many of these were charged within 96 hours of arrest.

Mr. Canavan

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will list, for each year since 1975, the number of people who have been detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act; and if he will give a breakdown of each annual total, specifying the number of people detained for periods of(a) one day or less, (b) two days, (c) three days, (d) four days, (e) five days, (f) six days and (g) seven days and the number of people in each category (a) to (g) who were (i) eventually charged and (ii) found guilty.

Mr. Hurd

[holding answers 13 and 20 December 1988 respectively]: The available information, which relates to persons detained under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1984 during the period 1 January to 30 September 1988 is given in the table. Corresponding information for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Information on persons detained is published quarterly in Home Office statistical bulletin, issue 2/87 which gives, in tables 1 and 2, the figures for years up to 1986. Copies of this bulletin are in the Library of the House. I shall write to the hon. Members updating the table to the end of 1988 after the bulletin for the fourth quarter has been published.

Length of detention Total detained Number charged Outcome of charge
Under the Act Under otherlegislation Found guilty Other outcome Awaiting trial
3 days and less than 4 days 12 — 1 1 — —
4 days and less than 5 days 9 — 2 2 — —
5 days and less than 6 days 7 — 2 2 — —
6 days and less than 7 days 11 1 15 2 14 —
7 days 1 — — — — —
Total 225 9 18 18 6 3
19882
Less than 1 day 53 2 3 1 — 4
1 day and less than 2 days 57 3 4 7 — —
2 days and less than 3 days 4 — — — — —
3 days and less than 4 days 6 — — — — —
4 days and less than 5 days 7 — — — — —
5 days and less than 6 days 3 — — — — —
6 days and less than 7 days - — — — — —
7 days — — — — —
Total 2130 5 7 8 — 4
1 Includes two persons who were subsequently deported or removed.
2 1 January to 30 September.