HL Deb 21 April 1982 vol 429 cc617-8WA
Lord Wigoder

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have yet completed their consultations upon the recommendations as to a Crown prosecutor service contained in Part II of the report of the Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure, with what bodies they have consulted, with what bodies, if any, they are still in the process of consulting, with what bodies, if any, they are still hoping to begin consultations, when, if not already completed, they anticipate that such consultations will be completed and how many, if any, bodies so far consulted have indicated any opposition in principle to the recommendations.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Elton)

The following organisations have expressed views to the Home Office on the proposal to establish a Crown prosecutor service:

  • The Association of Chief Police Officers
  • The Association of County Councils
  • The Association of Metropolitan Authorities
  • The British Legal Association
  • The British Multiple Retailers' Association
  • The Campaign for Homosexual Equality
  • The Central Council of Probation and After-Care Committees
  • The Commission for Racial Equality
  • The Criminal Bar Association
  • The Dover Harbour Board
  • The Fabian Society
  • The Greater London Council
  • The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers "Justice"
  • The Justices' Clerks' Society
  • The Law Society
  • The Legal Action Group
  • The Metropolitan Police
  • The National Association of Probation Officers
  • The National Association of Prosecuting Solicitors' Staffs
  • The National Council for Civil Liberties
  • The Police Federation
  • The Police Superintendents' Association of England and Wales
  • The Port of Liverpool Police
  • The Prosecuting Solicitors' Society of England and Wales
  • The Senate of the Inns of Court and the Bar
  • The Society of Labour Lawyers.

These include all the bodies whose views we have invited, as well as some who have commented on their own initiative.

Of the bodies named above, the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Association of County Councils, the Metropolitan Police, the Police Federation and the Port of London Police have expressed opposition in principle to the establishment of a Crown prosecutor service, while others have expressed reservations on specific aspects of the scheme which the Royal Commission recommended.