Child Sexual Exploitation: Grooming Gangs

Debate between Lord Keen of Elie and Lord Campbell-Savours

Thursday 24th January 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Keen of Elie]

My Lords, I entirely accept the noble Lord’s observation. Clearly, there were failures in many areas that left those children exposed to these abhorrent crimes. That is one reason why Operation Stovewood, directed by the National Crime Agency, has taken over investigations in, for example, Rotherham, where it is looking at the exploitation of children for purposes of sexual abuse from 1997 to 2013. Other reports have been made but further work needs to be done.

[Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab)]

My Lords, in the case of claims arising from sexual offences, is it not worth transferring funds from the criminal injuries compensation scheme so that they can be spent on counselling victims? That happens in Germany, which has a far more substantial budget to spend in that regard.

[Lord Keen of Elie]

As the noble Lord may be aware, changes to the criminal injuries compensation scheme have been considered and addressed in the context of victims of child sexual abuse. So some changes have been made, but I cannot indicate that further material changes will be made to the scheme at this time.

Brexit: Attorney-General’s Advice

Debate between Lord Keen of Elie and Lord Campbell-Savours

Thursday 29th November 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Keen of Elie]

My Lords, again, the observations of the noble Lord merely underline the prematurity of the Question that is being posed. I think that noble Lords have to be realistic about this. No, we do not intend to repeat the mistakes of past Governments, nor will we. With regard to the advice over the Iraq War, I will not go into detail on that; it is a matter of history. The issue that was raised was whether the Cabinet had been shown the full legal advice or merely a summary, which, in the latter event, would have been contrary to the then Ministerial Code which indicated that when advice from the Law Officers was included in ministerial papers or in papers for the Cabinet, the full advice should be annexed to any summary. But that issue does not arise here at this time. Again, the whole Question that has been raised is one of prematurity. I am not going to comment on the issue of legal advice in a way that would intrude upon the Law Officer privilege.

[Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister believe that there are circumstances in which the will of Parliament in a resolution should be ignored?

[Lord Keen of Elie]

I am not suggesting for a moment that the will of Parliament is going to be ignored.

Rape Trials

Debate between Lord Keen of Elie and Lord Campbell-Savours

Wednesday 6th June 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Keen of Elie]

In circumstances where it has been possible to download material that involves communications either between a complainer and the accused or between the complainer and third parties, that material will be analysed and all relevant material will be taken and disclosed to the defence. Of course, it is not always possible to access this material. We now live in an environment of encryption and of WhatsApp and Instagram, where sometimes this material is simply not accessible.

[Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab)]

What about those cases where men have been found guilty and are in prison, and there was inadequate disclosure during the course of their trial, whereas if there had been full disclosure they would have been found innocent? Are they simply to be left in prison and not have their cases reviewed?

[Lord Keen of Elie]

My Lords, I am not aware of any such cases. However, clearly, we have a series of filter mechanisms in our criminal justice system that includes the criminal cases review operation where there has already been a conviction and material comes to light.

Sexual Offences Legislation

Debate between Lord Keen of Elie and Lord Campbell-Savours

Tuesday 22nd May 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Campbell-Savours]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have, if any, to reform sexual offences legislation.

[The Advocate-General for Scotland (Lord Keen of Elie) (Con)]

My Lords, the Government recognise the importance of keeping sexual offences legislation under review. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 was amended in 2015 and again in 2017. We are currently reviewing the law around upskirting and considering the wider law on non-consensual photography.

[Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab)]

My Lords, given that Mr Harvey Proctor has launched a civil action in the High Court, revealing in his particulars of claim the full name and identity of the man “Nick” who trashed the international reputation of Sir Edward Heath and others, and in so far as the public interest provisions under court procedure rules, which deny anonymity in the Proctor action, are in conflict with anonymity provisions in sexual offences legislation, surely the cloak of lifetime anonymity should not be extended to false accusers such as “Nick”, whose full name is now plastered across the internet worldwide. This was never, never, never the intention of Parliament. Is it not about time that we reviewed the law on anonymity?

[Lord Keen of Elie]

My Lords, lifetime anonymity that is extended to complainants may be removed. Indeed, those complainants who are found to have made false and misleading claims regarding sexual conduct may be subject to prosecution.

CPS: Disclosure of Evidence

Debate between Lord Keen of Elie and Lord Campbell-Savours

Monday 18th December 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Keen of Elie]

My Lords, the terms of any review are yet to be determined, but it will be an internal review into the particulars of this case.

[Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab)]

But that is where the problem lies. The noble Lord’s question is relevant: what about all the other cases? I have handled a lot of cases over the years in which people have been accused of rape. What about those cases in which a mistake or error of judgment was made?

[Lord Keen of Elie]

My Lords, here is a criminal cases review board, which was set up to address the sorts of issue to which the noble Lord refers.