§ Mr. KIRKWOODasked the Attorney-General on what date the Solicitor-General was instructed to appear for the Crown in the case of Rex v. Bryant; on whose instructions the brief was delivered to the Solicitor-General; and whether, seeing that it is not in the public interest that the Attorney-General should have the unquestioned right of refusing leave to appeal to the House of Lords when the counsel conducting the case is his colleague, the Solicitor-General, he will take steps to alter this position?
The ATTORNEY-GENERALThe date was the 4th May. The brief was delivered on my instructions. With regard to the last part of the question, in order that there may be an appeal to the1754W House of Lords in a criminal matter the Attorney-General has to certify that the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal involves a point of law of exceptional public importance and that it is desirable in the public interest that a further appeal should be brought. The fact that either the Solicitor-General or the Attorney-General have themselves conducted the prosecution does not appear to me to create any difficulty in the Attorney-General's fairly and properly deciding the questions set out above, and in view of this I do not accept the hon. Gentleman's suggestion that the present procedure as laid down by Parliament is against the public interest.