§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what circumstances the Court will waive the double jeopardy rule and allow retrial to take place under the Criminal Justice Bill. [128524]
§ Paul Goggins:Under the provisions of Part 10 of the Criminal Justice Bill, the Court of Appeal will be able to order a retrial in respect of certain serious offences for which there has previously been an acquittal, where the court is satisfied that there is new and compelling evidence which is relevant tot he guilt of the acquitted person, and that it is in the interests of justice for a retrial to proceed.
§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the purpose is of altering the procedures and revising the Codes of Practice as set out in clause 7 of the Criminal Justice Bill; [127669]
(2) what the purposes are of altering the procedures and revising the Codes of Practice as set out in clause 7 of the Criminal Justice Bill. [128624]
§ Paul Goggins:The purpose of clause 9 (formerly clause 7) is to enable the Codes issued under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to be updated and reviewed on a more frequent basis to maintain their relevance and accuracy. It provides for a targeted, quicker and less bureaucratic approach and allows the Secretary of State discretion in the process of updating and making changes by applying a level of scrutiny 41W proportionate to the amendment or change. The Home Affairs Select Committee would advise the Secretary of State on the level of Parliamentary scrutiny required in every case.
§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what the purpose is of the proposal in clause 23 of the Criminal Justice Bill to transfer responsibility for charging from the police to the Crown Prosecution Service; [127670]
(2) what the purposes are of the proposal to transfer responsibility for charging from the Police to the Crown Prosecution Service in Clause 23 and of Schedule 2 of the Criminal Justice Bill. [128626]
§ Paul Goggins:The purpose of the new arrangements is to enable the police and Crown Prosecution Service to develop a common approach to case preparation, increasing the likelihood that charges will be correct from the outset and facilitating a more efficient and effective court process. When similar arrangements were piloted last year, the results showed improvements in terms of substantially lower discontinuance, more guilty pleas at first hearing and significant falls in cracked and ineffective trials.
§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether HM Government will adopt the Home Affairs Committee's recommendation on including a time limit in the primary legislation on imposing conditions on bail before charge in the Criminal Justice Bill. [128522]
§ Paul Goggins:The Government have considered the Home Affairs Committee's recommendation that there should be a limit on the duration of pre-charge police bail in cases referred to the Crown Prosecution Service for a decision as to charge. The Government accept that bail granted to suspects in these circumstances (whether subject to conditions or not) should be for a reasonable period only, but it has decided that it would be appropriate to make this clear in guidance, rather than to include a time limit on the face of the Bill. No statutory restrictions on the duration of police bail exist at present, and the final evaluation report of the charging pilot recommended against imposing such a limit in these cases.
§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the Criminal Justice Bill modifies the general exclusionary rule against hearsay evidence. [128617]
§ Paul Goggins:The main provisions remove the old common law rule against the admission of hearsay evidence, and provide a clear statutory scheme for the admission of such evidence. Under the Bill, statements made out of court will be admissible as evidence in the following circumstances:
the witness is unavailable for a specified reason;documentary records have been compiled by business;it is admissible under the common law rules which have been preserved or other statutory provision;the parties agree that it can go in; orthe court gives leave to admit the statement.In addition, witnesses' previous statements will be more widely admissible at trial as proof of the facts contained within them, including allowing certain 42W witnesses in serious cases to use their video recorded statements in place of their main evidence. Further details are contained in the Explanatory Notes, which have been published to accompany the Bill.
§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Government will accept the recommendation of the Home Affairs Committee to delete Clause 5 pertaining to detention time limits in the Criminal Justice Bill. [128623]
§ Paul Goggins:I refer my hon. Friend to the Government Reply to the Second. Report from the Home Affairs Committee (column 5787). Extending detention in the way proposed will help impact positively on dealing with serious offences such as street robbery.
§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Government will accept the recommendation of the Home Affairs Committee to amend Clause 7 of the Criminal Justice Bill in order to preserve the existing procedures in the circumstances of a Code being established for the first time and where revisions of substantial importance or significance are made to the Codes. [128625]
§ Paul Goggins:Government amendments tabled during debate in the Lords Committee provide for any entirely new PACE Code to be subject to affirmative procedure. We also accept that significant changes to existing Codes may be subject to the same process but that there should be scope to consider the most appropriate procedure to be followed in each case. That is why we have given an undertaking to consult the Home Affairs Select Committee in every case on which procedure should be followed and to be bound by the Committee's advice.