Crime: Historic Sex Abuse Allegations

Lord Mackay of Clashfern Excerpts

Tuesday 19th April 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

My Lords, I have to acknowledge the noble Lord’s persistence in this matter. I think he will appreciate that it is a complex one. We recognise that there is a difficult balance to strike between the operational advantages of naming suspects in some criminal investigations and respecting suspects’ right to privacy. As my noble friend Lord Faulks said in answer to the noble Lord last month, Parliament itself has changed its mind on this issue. The Government’s position is that although in general there should be a right to anonymity before the point of charge, there will be circumstances in which the public interest means that an arrested suspect should be named. The College of Policing guidance is that the police should not routinely release information about suspects before charge and that the decision to do so should be made on a case-by-case basis by a chief officer, and only when the circumstances justify it. Notwithstanding that, and bearing in mind what the noble Lord said about human rights and justice, the former High Court judge Sir Richard Henriques has been commissioned to examine the way in which recent cases involving non-recent sexual allegations have been conducted, and to report to the commissioner.

[Lord Mackay of Clashfern (Con)]

To what extent do specific allegations have to be made before a large-scale investigation of someone’s documents is initiated?

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

I am afraid I do not know the answer to that. I will have to write to my noble and learned friend.