HC Deb 28 February 2000 vol 345 cc43-4W
Mr. Garnier

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many official visits the hon. Member for Wyre Forest (Mr. Lock) has paid to the United States since his appointment as Parliamentary Secretary; what was the location of each visit; who he met; and what subjects were discussed. [110911]

Mr. Lock

I have made one visit to the United States of America since my appointment as Parliamentary Secretary, where I had the meetings set out in the following table. I also visited Winnipeg and Ottawa, and details of the meetings I held there are also set out in the table.

The purpose of my visit was to meet experienced practitioners in the USA and Canada to discuss the successful operation of criminal defence services, and the use of salaried defence advocates.

This forms part of the policy making process for the development of the Criminal Defence Service in England and Wales, the first stage of which will be implemented in October 2000. I will be consulting with professional bodies and other interested parties on the detail of our proposals in the coming months.

Location Subject
Los Angeles
Michael Judge, Public Defender Setting up and running publicly funded criminal defence services, different models of public defence services, ensuring quality services for defendants, monitoring mechanisms, training and development of public defender lawyers and staff, attending court hearings
Robert Kalunian, Assistant Public
Defender
Adolfo Lara, Assistant Public
Defender
Public Defender Office
Management Board
Penny Van Bogaert, Assistant
Deputy Public Defender (Resources)
Trial lawyers, Paralegals and Investigators from the Public Defender"s Offece
Portland, Oregon
Ann Christian, Oregon State Setting up and running publicly funded criminal defence services, different models of public defence services, ensuring quality services for defendants, monitoring mechanisms, training and development of public attending court hearings,judicial views on service provided by public defence services
Judicial Department, Head of Indigent Defence Services
James Hennings, Metropolitan
Public Defender, Portland
Ross Shepard, Lane County Public
Defender
Managers and Trial Lawyers,
Multnomah County Defender Office
Judge Frantz, Principal Criminal
Judge, Portland
Ron Williams, Attorney in charge of drug treatment programme,
Metropolitan Public Defender's Office, Portland
Group of Private Attorneys contracted to do public defence work
Seattle
James Crane, Office of Public Setting up and running publicly funded criminal defence services, different models of public defence services, ensuring quality services for defendants, monitoring mechanisms, training
Defence, king County, Washington
Robert Boruchowitz, Public
Defender, King County
Managers and Trial Lawyers, Office of Public Defence, King County
Location Subject
Daniel Sattenberg, Chief of Staff, and development of public defender lawyers and staff, judicial views on service provided by public defence services
King County Prosecutor"s Office
Judges from King County Criminal
Courts
Winnipeg
Gerry McNeilly, Executive Director, Setting up and running publicly funded criminal defence services, different models of public defence services, ensuring quality services for defendants, monitoring mechanisms, training and development of public defender lawyers and staff, judicial views on service provided by public defence services, operation of civil courts, Narey reforms, legal aid expenditure and control, public service agreements, policy co-ordination across Government
Legal Aid Manitoba
Managers and Trial Attorneys,
Legal Aid Manitoba
Judge Judith Webster, senior criminal judge, Provincial Court
Gord Mackintosh, Manitoba
Minister of Justice and Attorney General
Ottawa
Morris Rosenberg, Federal Deputy Setting up and running publicly funded criminal defence services, different models of public defence services, ensuring quality services for defendants, monitoring mechanisms, training and development of public defender lawyers and staff, implementation of the Human Rights Act, constitutional reform, judicial appointments policy, Law Commission, policy research projects
Minister of Justice
Janice Charette, Senior Assistant
Deputy Minister
Officials from Department of Justice, from legal aid research division, judicial affairs division, research and statistics division
Senator Gerald Beaudoin
Mr. John Godfrey MP
Elizabeth Mulholland, Senior
Adviser, Prime Minister's Office
Professor Errol Mendes, University of Ottawa