Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, if she will hold discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service on reducing the number of pre-charge cases awaiting decision.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Public confidence in the criminal justice is underpinned by access to swift justice. It is critical that cases progress through the system as quickly as possible, both before and after a charge is made. Improving timeliness and reducing the backlogs of outstanding cases are a priority for me and for this Government.
I will of course be holding discussions about these issues with the Crown Prosecution Service, with a view to making systemic improvements as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many offenders involved in violent knife crime have engaged in a charge bargain to lessen their sentence in each of the last three years.
Answered by Alex Chalk
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of people illegally carrying knives who have been charged with the offence or offences of manslaughter. This information could only be obtained by an examination of CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.
There is no system of plea bargaining in courts in England and Wales. It may be appropriate for a plea to be accepted to alternative charges in some cases. However, the CPS do not capture any data on cases where this occurs centrally; therefore, the information could only be obtained by an examination of CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost. The CPS uses the Code for Crown Prosecutors to decide the charge and the Attorney General’s guidelines on acceptance of pleas, in deciding whether to accept a guilty plea to a lesser charge. In both its Legal Guidance on Offensive Weapons and the Knife Crime Practical Guidance, the CPS state that the weapon offence should be charged in addition to the substantive offence.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many people illegally carrying knives have been charged for manslaughter in the last five years.
Answered by Alex Chalk
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of people illegally carrying knives who have been charged with the offence or offences of manslaughter. This information could only be obtained by an examination of CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.
There is no system of plea bargaining in courts in England and Wales. It may be appropriate for a plea to be accepted to alternative charges in some cases. However, the CPS do not capture any data on cases where this occurs centrally; therefore, the information could only be obtained by an examination of CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost. The CPS uses the Code for Crown Prosecutors to decide the charge and the Attorney General’s guidelines on acceptance of pleas, in deciding whether to accept a guilty plea to a lesser charge. In both its Legal Guidance on Offensive Weapons and the Knife Crime Practical Guidance, the CPS state that the weapon offence should be charged in addition to the substantive offence.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the legal basis to extending the scope of the public consultation for an online advertising ban of foods high in fat, salt or sugar to communication and marketing restrictions to brands’ and companies’ own websites and social media channels.
Answered by Michael Ellis
This policy is led by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).
The Law Officers regularly meet ministerial colleagues to discuss important issues of common interest.
However, it is a fundamental and longstanding principle of our system of government that the fact that the Law Officers have advised (or not advised) and the content of any such advice is, by convention, not disclosed outside Government, without their consent.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what recent discussions he has had with the Director of Public Prosecutions on ensuring more effective prosecutions of cases involving individuals supporting terrorism abroad.
Answered by Geoffrey Cox
The CPS has a strong record of bringing successful prosecutions in terrorism cases, and works closely with Counter Terrorism policing and partners to help build strong cases.
Where individuals provide support to terrorism abroad, for example by funding terrorism, they should expect to be investigated by the police and prosecuted by the CPS if the evidential and public interest tests in the Code for Crown Prosecutors are met.
Where crimes are committed abroad, Section 17 of the Terrorism Act 2006 provides the courts with extra-territorial jurisdiction in relation to a number of terrorism offences so that if an individual were to commit one of these offences in a foreign country, they would be liable under UK law in the same way as if they had committed the offence in the UK. As the nature of terrorism has evolved, section 17 has been amended to include further offences. The CPS strongly supported these legislative provisions to strengthen our ability to prosecute offenders.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps the CPS is taking to increase the rate of prosecution of people who are responsible for forced marriages.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The CPS takes the prosecution of forced marriage allegations very seriously. Each CPS Area has an identified prosecutor to lead on or deal with these cases. The CPS keeps its legal guidance under review to assist prosecutors to meet these challenges. This will shortly be revised to address cases where the victim lacks capacity to consent to marriage because of a condition affecting their mental functioning. At a national level there exists a joint police and CPS forced marriage working group, which has developed a protocol for investigations and prosecutions as well as training for prosecutors.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what recent discussions he has had with the CPS on the effectiveness of prosecution in cases involving knife crime.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The CPS continues to prosecute knife crime robustly. The Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions and I have participated in discussions on delivering the Government’s Serious Violence Strategy. Both the CPS and AGO were represented by the Solicitor General at the Prime Minister’s recent Serious Youth Violence Summit between 1st and 4th April, and will be represented on the Prime Ministers Serious Violence Implementation Taskforce by the Law Officers.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what recent discussions he has had with the CPS on the effectiveness of prosecutions in cases involving acid attacks.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions and I have participated in discussions on delivering the Government’s Serious Violence Strategy, including tackling acid attacks effectively. We will also both be involved with the Prime Minister’s new Serious Violence Strategy Implementation Taskforce. The CPS continues to successfully bring these horrendous crimes to justice. Where there is sufficient evidence to prosecute, there is a strong public interest in doing so.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what the role of the CPS in tackling serious violent crime amongst young people is.
Answered by Robert Buckland
On 9 April 2018, the Government published a new Serious Violence Strategy to take action to address serious violence and in particular the recent increases in knife crime, gun crime and homicide. The Serious Violence Strategy stresses the importance of early intervention to tackle the root causes of serious violence and to provide young people with the skills and resilience to lead productive lives free from violence. The CPS is working with its cross-government partners to deliver the Strategy, and welcomes a public health prevention strategy relating to serious violence reduction.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what recent discussions he has had with the CPS on the effectiveness of prosecution in cases involving female genital mutilation.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The CPS is determined to bring those responsible for Female Genital Mutilation to justice, and recently obtained the first conviction for such a case, in London. CPS prosecutors work closely with the police from the outset of these cases to address the challenges they raise, including legal questions concerning jurisdiction and expert evidence, and have assigned FGM leads for every CPS Area. Whilst prosecution alone will not end this appalling crime, this first conviction sends out a strong message that FGM is child abuse and that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.