Domestic Violence: Prosecution of Cases
(Kingston upon Hull North)
(Lab)
1. What recent discussions he has had with the Director of Public
Prosecutions on the effectiveness of the CPS in prosecuting cases
involving domestic violence. [900226]
The Solicitor General ()
The Crown Prosecution Service takes domestic abuse cases
extremely seriously and is determined to bring perpetrators to
justice and to provide victims with the greatest possible
protection from repeat offending. In 2019, the CPS led the
implementation of a national domestic abuse best practice
framework for magistrates court cases, which aims to ensure
consistent good practice from investigation right through to
court by criminal justice agencies involved in domestic abuse
casework.
I have previously mentioned the shocking statistic that Hull has
enough domestic abuse perpetrators to fill our football stadium,
which holds 25,000 people. Some 746,000 domestic abuse crimes
have been recorded nationally, which is up 24% in a year.
However, referrals from the police to the CPS have gone down by
11%. Will the Minister explain what he intends to do about that?
The Solicitor General
Before I answer, may I take this opportunity to congratulate the
hon. Lady on her damehood? It is richly deserved. She asks an
important question. National implementation in this area is
overseen at a multi-agency level, and it is a priority for the
Government and the CPS to work to improve the statistics. There
has actually been a 21.6% rise in prosecutions for violence
against women and girls, an increase in charging and prosecution
of offences of stalking—80% of stalking cases happen in a
domestic abuse context—and a rise in prosecutions for controlling
and coercive behaviour. However, I accept that more needs to be
done, and that is a priority for the Government and the CPS.
(Cheltenham)
(Con)
The CPS’s ability to successfully prosecute offences of domestic
violence, or indeed any offence, is being undermined by prisoners
not being produced at court—a trial at the Old Bailey has sat
idle for two days this week for that reason. Does my right hon.
and learned Friend agree that more needs to be done to hold those
responsible for such an important job to account so that courts
are not lying idle, affecting victims and witnesses? Frankly, it
is a crazy situation that is not fair on the taxpayer.
The Solicitor General
That is a very good point, and my hon. Friend has considerable
experience of prosecutions and the court system. The reality is
that we expect those who are responsible for delivering
defendants to court to do so efficiently, and of course, in the
vast majority of cases, they do that. If there are cases that he
wishes to bring to my attention so that I can make direct
inquiries, he should please do so.
Leaving the EU: Human Rights
(Manchester, Gorton)
(Lab)
2. What assessment he has made of the potential effect on the
protection of human rights of the UK leaving the EU. [900227]
The Attorney General ( )
The United Kingdom has a long tradition of ensuring that rights
and liberties are protected domestically and of fulfilling its
international human rights obligations. Our departure from the
European Union will not change that.
There are real concerns about whether the UK will remain a
signatory to the European convention on human rights as we leave
the European Union. The convention has led to changes in UK law
that protect victims of trafficking, tackle workplace
discrimination and ensure the rights of disabled people. Can the
Attorney General guarantee that this Government will never
withdraw from the convention in any circumstance?
The Attorney General
I am grateful for this opportunity to reassert the Government’s
complete commitment to our membership of and subscription to the
European convention on human rights.
(Bromley and Chislehurst)
(Con)
I welcome what the Attorney General has just said. Will he take
the opportunity to remind many people that the United Kingdom is
one of the founding fathers of the convention that gave rise to
the ECHR—not least in the person of Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, a
distinguished Conservative lawyer-politician? I know my right
hon. and learned Friend will want to continue in that tradition.
The Attorney General
I am most grateful to my hon. Friend and, if I may, I offer him a
word of congratulation on his recent knighthood. I am delighted
to welcome him in his new incarnation as Sir Bob.
My hon. Friend will know I agree with him that, as we leave the
European Union, the country and the world should know that this
nation stands for liberty, freedom and human rights. One mark of
our standing for those values will be our continued vigorous
participation in the Council of Europe and our subscription to
the convention on human rights. That should not mean that we do
not turn a critical eye to elements of the human rights
structures in our country, and we will look at those in the time
to come.
(Torfaen) (Lab)
Although I welcome most of what the Attorney General has just
said, the Tory manifesto says:
“We will update the Human Rights Act and administrative law”.
Yesterday, at Prime Minister’s questions, the Prime Minister said
that judicial review should not be
“abused to conduct politics by another means or to create
needless delays.”—[Official Report, 15 January 2020; Vol. 669, c.
1019.]
Can the Attorney General tell us which recent court decisions
have been about conducting politics or causing needless delays?
The Attorney General
It has been an enormous pleasure to appear opposite the hon.
Gentleman. He is a distinguished historian, a distinguished
politician and an experienced barrister.
(Walsall
South) (Lab)
Flattery won’t help you.
The Attorney General
Of course it will.
The hon. Member for Torfaen ()
knows I will not be drawn into commenting on individual cases,
but what I can say is that there are widespread concerns
throughout our society and throughout this House as to whether
judicial review is sometimes being used in a manner, often
through frivolous applications, that needs better focus and care
in its procedures and tests. We will have a look at that to see
whether the elements of judicial review could be better designed
to serve its purpose of holding the Government to account for
their administrative decisions.
I always welcome compliments, but I did not detect an answer to
the question from the Attorney General. He often says that he is
a lawyer first and a politician second. He knows that Governments
are sometimes vindicated in the courts and that they also face
decisions from the courts that are uncomfortable. The answer is
never to attack the independence of our judiciary or our courts
system. There is a real worry that the Prime Minister is seeking
some sort of vengeance because he did not like the Supreme
Court’s decision that his prorogation of Parliament was unlawful.
Does the Attorney General agree that if we are to weaken judicial
review, it will be not the Prime Minister who loses out, but all
our constituents whose rights to hold public authorities to
account are watered down?
The Attorney General
There is no question of weakening judicial review. The question
is whether we can make it more efficient and streamlined, and
more focused on the purpose: holding the Government to account
for their administrative decisions. Even the hon. Gentleman will
have to accept that some judicial review cases have been brought
that should perhaps never have been started—often they are indeed
thrown out by the courts—and we can prevent the courts being
clogged up with those applications. So I say to him: let us wait
and see. The Government are looking at this extremely carefully,
but I want him to understand one thing: there is no question of
backsliding upon the fundamental principle of the independence of
the judiciary.
(Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (SNP)
I welcome the Attorney General back to his place on the
Government Bench, but it was from the Back Benches, in February
2017, that he made a superb speech on the human rights of
unaccompanied asylum seeking children, calling on the Government
not just to pay “lip service” to those rights, but to make them
“practical and effective”. So if the Government are genuinely
committed to making those Dublin rights effective post-Brexit,
why do they not just unilaterally decide to continue to accept
unaccompanied children with family members here? Why are the
Government seeking to repeal even the modest obligations to
negotiate their rights under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act
2018?
The Attorney General
We are not seeking to repeal this; we are simply removing the
statutory requirement to negotiate it. The Government wrote in
October last year seeking commencement of negotiation on family
reunification. The principle is fundamental and one to which the
Government are committed: vulnerable, unaccompanied children must
be able to reunite with their family members in this country.
Hate Crimes: Prosecution Rate
(Harrow East)
(Con)
3. What steps the CPS is taking to improve the prosecution rate
for hate crimes. [900228]
(Hastings and Rye)
(Con)
8. What steps the CPS is taking to improve the prosecution rate
for hate crimes. [900235]
The Solicitor General ()
The CPS is committed to tackling hate crime, working closely with
partners across government under the hate crime action plan. The
CPS has trained its prosecutors, drawing on expertise and insight
from key community groups, and has established national and local
scrutiny panels to inform decision making. As a result, last year
the number of convictions for hate crimes with a recorded
sentence uplift increased to 73.6%, the highest rate yet.
I thank my right hon. and learned Friend for that answer.
Antisemitism and hate crimes are on the rise right across this
country. What further action can he take to make sure that the
perpetrators are brought to justice and we eliminate hate crime
forever?
The Solicitor General
I thank my hon. Friend for that question. He is right to be
concerned about this issue. The rise in antisemitism is
significant. One thing that has been happening is that mandatory
hate crime training for the CPS has been developed, with
community involvement, including that of the Community Security
Trust. That has been delivered, and the CPS has refreshed a guide
for lawyers on antisemitism, with the assistance of that trust.
The guide includes key aspects of the law and victim support. We
must do everything we can to stamp out this scourge of
antisemitism.
I thank my right hon. and learned Friend for his response. The
internet has hugely positive values, but it can allow the spread
of hate crime behind a veil of anonymity. What steps is his
Department taking to ensure that crime online attracts and is
subject to the same penalties in law as offline crime?
The Solicitor General
The proportion of hate crime convictions with an announced and
recorded sentence uplift has increased from just 12.1% in 2014 to
73.6% now. My hon. Friend is right about online instances of hate
crime, and the hate crime conviction rate has also increased in
the past decade significantly. It now stands at 84%, but we are
continuing to work on dealing with the issue of hate crime
online.
(Hove) (Lab)
Overall prosecutions have fallen from a quarter to only one in
10. Why is the CPS prosecuting so few people for hate crime? Why
is the number of prosecutions falling, not rising? Is that not
deterring people from reporting hate crime in the first place?
The Solicitor General
There is considerable evidence that people are particularly
concerned about hate crime, and I do not think they are being put
off making complaints to the police about that. We are constantly
liaising at the Crown Prosecution Service with local police
forces about their conduct, and we focus very much on getting
results in instances of hate crime. As I have said, the number of
convictions for hate crime has increased to its highest ever
level.
(Oldham West
and Royton) (Lab/Co-op)
There is no doubt that the rise of Islamophobia is causing real
concern and fear in the community, and particularly in the
community that I represent in Oldham. The online platforms have
been allowed to self-regulate for far too long. It would be easy
for them to have a simple “report it once” button that
automatically feeds through to the police. Will the Government do
far more to make sure that victims are protected and that we
raise the tone of the debate in our politics?
The Solicitor General
The hon. Gentleman is right to focus on this issue. The issue of
Islamophobia is of particular concern, as are all forms of hate
crime. We see examples of cases in this area being robustly
prosecuted throughout the country, and likewise we see examples
of courts recognising the seriousness of these offences with
exemplary sentences. The sentencing tribunal has noted that such
sentences have been increased because of the Islamophobic or
antisemitic element, or because of elements relating to other
areas of hate crime. That is right and should be a warning to
all.
Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme: Extension
(Mid Dorset and
North Poole) (Con)
4. What progress he has made on the implementation of the
extension of the unduly lenient sentence scheme. [900230]
(Walsall
North) (Con)
9. What progress he has made on the implementation of the
extension of the unduly lenient sentence scheme. [900236]
The Solicitor General ()
The ULS scheme is an important avenue for victims, family members
and the public to ensure that justice is delivered in the most
serious cases, which is why the Government have extended the
scheme to cover further child sexual abuse offences, as well as
some domestic abuse offences, including controlling and coercive
behaviour. The remit of the scheme remains under constant review.
I am grateful to the Solicitor General for his answer. It is
absolutely right that the most serious sentences are reviewable,
but will he also ensure that there is always a path towards
rehabilitation, and even redemption?
The Solicitor General
My hon. Friend is quite right. It has always been recognised in
our criminal justice system that punishment includes not only
deterrence but rehabilitation. That is something we seek to do in
our sentencing regime and in our criminal justice system
generally. My hon. Friend is right to highlight that feature.
I am glad to hear what the Solicitor General has to say, because
the people of Willenhall and Bloxwich certainly do not want to
see unduly lenient sentences for those convicted of rape, murder
or terrorism. When he gets a referral under the scheme, how often
is the sentence increased?
The Solicitor General
The number of sentences considered by the Law Officers—the
Attorney General and myself—has trebled since 2010. There were
approximately 1,000 referrals last year, of which 86 cases were
referred to the Court of Appeal and 50 offenders had their
sentences increased.
(Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)
I often ask this question because it is a little campaign of
mine. When people get unduly severe sentences, I write to the
Solicitor General. It is usually women sentenced for a
non-violent crime who get a long, disproportionate sentence. Does
he welcome that kind of communication from Members? What does he
do about that communication when he gets it?
The Solicitor General
I always welcome communication from the hon. Gentleman and, in
fact, from any Member. The issue of manifestly excessive
sentences is one for the defence in each case, and there are
mechanisms by which, within a time limit, defence lawyers can
appeal to the Court of Appeal against a sentence that they
consider to be manifestly excessive. It is not a matter for the
Law Officers; we deal with unduly lenient sentences.
(Rhondda) (Lab)
Assaults on emergency workers continue to increase, particularly
against ambulance workers and people working in the NHS and in
the police. Surely that is a disgrace. I have yet to see a single
sentence handed down in such cases that is not unduly lenient.
One reason for that is that the Sentencing Council has still not
introduced any guidelines in relation to assaults on emergency
workers since the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill
became an Act more than a year ago. Will the Solicitor General
ring up the chaps or the women who run the Sentencing Council and
ensure that we get proper sentences for people who attack our
emergency workers?
The Solicitor General
I think I can provide some reassurance because I have seen some
cases where sentences have clearly been imposed for the offence
mentioned by the hon. Gentleman, who played a large part in
bringing about the legislation. Assaults on emergency service
personnel are serious aggravating features in many cases and I
know that they are already being prosecuted. The Sentencing
Council is clearly looking at a number of offences, and I am sure
that they will look at that one in due course.
