§ Mr. WigginTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what provisions are in place to increase awareness amongst the judiciary of the behaviour patterns of people who have communication-related disabilities, including autism and Aspergers' Syndrome, in relation to sentencing for communication-related offences, with particular reference to(a) section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 and (b) the offence of being drunk and disorderly. [186920]
§ Mr. LeslieThe particular offences in question can only be heard within the magistrates court and usually before lay justices, although District Judges (magistrates court) and Deputy District Judges (magistrates court) also have jurisdiction to deal with them. The Government are committed to the equal and fair treatment of all those who find themselves having to answer criminal charges in court. In particular, part of the judicial oath states that magistrates will "do right to all manner of people".
The JSB Equal Treatment advisory Committee (ETAC) has provided a Bench Book to all professional judiciary and magistrates courts, and this can also be viewed at www.jsboard.co.uk. The Bench Book includes general advice on dealing with mental disability including autism. The JSB will shortly distribute a booklet entitled "Fairness In Courts and Tribunals" to all magistrates. This booklet is a summary of the newly revised (JSB) ETAC Bench Book. If communication difficulties arise during the charging procedure, and autism or Aspergers' Syndrome is suspected or known, the police will notify the courts in advance of the case being heard. The use of interpreters and/or adult support at Court would then be encouraged.
All magistrates have been issued with an Adult Court Bench Book, published by the Judicial Studies Board. This Bench Book includes a structured decision-making guide for use when making sentencing decisions on both these particular offences and also includes a copy of the newly revised magistrates court sentencing guidelines. The guidelines indicate that the health (physical or mental) of offenders should be considered in mitigation.
The "Magistrate" magazine, which is produced by the Magistrates Association, published an article in the January 2004 edition entitled "Coping with sufferers of autism". This publication is widely read among the magistracy.