§ Mrs. Ann TaylorTo ask the Attorney-General (1) how many complaints he has received under section 18 of the Public Order Act 1986; how many such complaints were initiated(a) by the police, (b) by the Commission for Racial Equality, (c) by hon. Members and (d) by members of the public; and how many of these complaints were forwarded to the Crown Prosecution Service for further consideration;
(2) how many complaints he has received under section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986; how many such complaints were initiated by (a) the police, (b) the Commission for Racial Equality, (c) hon. Members and (d) members of the public; and how many of these complaints were forwarded to the Crown Prosecution Service for further action.
§ The Attorney-GeneralSince sections 18 and 19 of the Public Order Act 1986 came into force last year, I have 413W received four complaints of alleged offences contrary to section 18 and 26 complaints of alleged offences contrary to section 19, though the circumstances of one of these complaints was such that allegations of both offences were raised at the same time.
It is not uncommon for allegations of offences under section 19, in particular, to be made by more than one complainant, over a period of time. Of the complaints to which I have referred, one came to me initially from the Commission for Racial Equality, four initially from hon. Members and 15 initially from members of the public.
In all but one of those cases, the complaint was referred to the Crown Prosecution Service for further consideration. The single exception was in the case of a complaint manifestly unfounded.
The remaining nine complaints were received by me from the Crown Prosecution Service itself.