§ Sir Ivan LawrenceTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the report of the Royal Commission on criminal justice.
§ Mr. HowardThe Government welcome the royal commission's wide-ranging report which was published today. I and my right hon. and learned Friends, the Lord Chancellor and the Attorney-General, are grateful to Viscount Runciman and his colleagues for their endeavours, and I congratulate them on completing their work on time.
The report deals with difficult questions of great long-term importance, and it will no doubt provoke much public debate and discussion. The Government do not propose that there should now be a formal consultation period, but we will welcome any early observations on the report's proposals, before reaching our own conclusions.
Although the royal commission's terms of reference extended only England and Wales, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland has indicated his intention to consider the implications of the report for the criminal justice system of Scotland. My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has asked me to say that, in consultation with the Lord Chancellor and the Attorney-General, he similarly wishes to consider the implications of the report in the context of Northern Ireland.