Corporate Structures and Financial Crime

Debate between Emily Thornberry and Lord Garnier

Thursday 4th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Emily Thornberry]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, but in the time I have available, I would like to look to the future and consider the best method that we have for solving the current problems. I am happy to talk to him at some length outside the debate, because I am committed to the issue and will be interested to hear his point of view.

It seems to me that one good way in which the assets in question can be used, instead of lowering the levy, is to put them into a pool that prosecutors can use in future. That would help to pump up what we are doing. That seems to be a way forward, and I am putting it before the House today to get some sensible responses.

[Sir Edward Garnier (Harborough) (Con)]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Emily Thornberry]

Unfortunately I am running out of time, but I would like to hear from the hon. and learned Gentleman briefly.

[Sir Edward Garnier]

The hon. Lady urged us to look to the future. Does she agree that one thing that we need to consider with reasonable urgency is an alteration in how corporate criminal liability is described in law? At the moment, we have the Victorian “directing mind” principle, which is not really appropriate for vast international companies. Does she agree that we need to Americanise the system—

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Emily Thornberry and Lord Garnier

Tuesday 10th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Solicitor-General]

I think the media are quoting a letter shown to them by the shadow Attorney-General—

[Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury) (Lab)]

I have not seen it.

[The Solicitor-General]

The hon. Lady has not seen it either. We are both in the dark, that is wonderful—[Interruption.] The shadow Attorney-General does not know anything, apparently. Let me enlighten her—[Interruption.] She is obviously in a hurry to learn.

The criminal justice system Olympics working group has adopted the following definition of an Olympic offence:

“any offence…committed and charged in the period 1st July to 30th September 2012, and is…stated by any Court to be directly connected to the 2012 Olympic or Paralympics Games”.

It is a definition of a type of crime, not a new offence.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Emily Thornberry and Lord Garnier

Tuesday 7th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Solicitor-General]

When DPAs come into the criminal justice system in this country, they will be available to the public in the sense that they will be operated by the director of the Serious Fraud Office, who is a public prosecutor. I am not sure that I can help the hon. Lady much further than that. The matter is under discussion and we are developing it within Government. Further announcements will be made just as soon as we are ready.

[Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury) (Lab)]

Given that when investigating the failure of RBS, Adair Turner concluded that the FSA has little power under the existing rules to take action against individuals associated with the banking crisis; that the director of the SFO believes that

“things have got to change”;

and that we are still waiting for anyone in the UK to be prosecuted in relation to the global financial crisis, will the Solicitor-General use his best efforts to persuade the Attorney-General to look again at introducing a crime of corporate negligence so that prosecutors have a full range of weapons in their armoury to use in future against reckless financiers?

[The Solicitor-General]

The Attorney-General and I always use our best efforts. The development of the criminal law is within the remit of the Ministry of Justice. I am sure that the hon. Lady will address her remarks, via the right hon. Member for Tooting (Sadiq Khan), to that Department.