Brexit Negotiations

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood

Monday 11th December 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

My noble friend is right that the Prime Minister has also been clear that the UK will honour its commitments and obligations. We have agreed a fair settlement of commitments we have made while a member of the EU in the spirit of our future partnership.

[Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood (CB)]

My Lords, I welcome the fact that over the next eight years, our courts will be able, in the event of dispute as to citizen’s rights, to refer the case to the ECJ for interpretation. But are there any circumstances in which the Minister could foresee that, having obtained such an interpretation although the case itself would be determined by the UK courts, they could actually refuse to follow it?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

As I have already said, the ability of our courts to ask the ECJ for a view will be voluntary, very narrowly defined and time limited. The courts can choose to ask the ECJ for a legal view on the law in relation to citizens’ rights where there is a point of law that has not arisen before, but our courts will make the final judgment on each case, not the ECJ.

Judicial Independence

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood

Wednesday 7th December 2016 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Evans of Bowes Park) (Con)]

My Lords, it is the turn of the Cross Benches.

[Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood]

Does the Minister agree that the real vice and mischief of misconceived attacks on the integrity and good faith of the judges is not the hurt that it causes the judges—judges are not there to be popular and they tend to develop pretty thick skins—but rather the fact that it undermines the public trust and confidence in the administration of justice, and it is that which damages the rule of law?

Prisoners: Imprisonment for Public Protection Sentences

Debate between Baroness Evans of Bowes Park and Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood

Wednesday 11th November 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many of those still serving Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences have now been imprisoned for more than five times their tariff sentences, and whether their imprisonment will continue indefinitely unless and until the Parole Board is satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that they should be confined.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Con)]

Of those prisoners serving sentences of imprisonment for public protection at the end of September 2015, 392 had served more than five times their tariff. IPP prisoners will continue to be detained until the independent Parole Board is satisfied that the risks they pose to the public are safely manageable in the community.

[Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood (CB)]

I am grateful to the Minister for that Answer. She confirms that there are in our overcrowded and expensive prison system already several hundred prisoners serving well beyond the appropriate term representing punishment for their offending. Some 392 have done more than five times their tariff term, and many hundreds more have also served well beyond their term. This is of course a form of preventive detention—internment—entirely alien to our traditional criminal justice approach.

In 2012, that whole system was finally abolished and power was given to the Lord Chancellor to amend the test to ensure that those people previously sentenced could finally secure their release. The previous Lord Chancellor failed in that regard. When will this Lord Chancellor finally decide to bring this terrible scourge to an end?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I thank the noble and learned Lord for his question. Of course, I am well aware that noble Lords across the House have raised this issue on numerous occasions. We are taking measures to attempt to address the situation. One positive thing I hope that noble Lords will accept is that the Parole Board is tackling the backlog in oral hearings, which has been reduced by 18% since January. The noble and learned Lord is absolutely right that the Secretary of State has the power to amend the release test. He is extremely mindful of the concerns expressed and of his powers, but there are no plans to use those powers at present.