§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the procedures used in his Department to assess the desirability of potential changes in the law and the criteria on which he decides to propose such changes to Parliament.
§ Mr. MellorBoth procedures and criteria necessarily vary in accordance with the subject matter.
For the purpose of assessing the desirability of changes in the law, it is often appropriate to seek the views of the public and of interested bodies by means of a Green Paper or other consultative document. On some subjects my right hon. and learned Friend receives expert advice from such bodies as the Law Commission, the Criminal Law Revision Committee or the Advisory Committee on Animal Experiments. In certain instances he may refer a question to a departmental committee, working party or other body specially constituted for the purpose.
So far as the criminal law is concerned, the principal factors to which my right hon. and learned Friend has regard in proposing changes to Parliament on whether the conduct in question merits criminal sanctions to deter people from it and to punish those who are not deterred; whether other less drastic measures of control would be ineffective, impracticable or insufficient; and whether the law as amended would be clear and enforceable.