Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for Education to teach an understanding of the law among young people.
Answered by Michael Ellis
I chair a Public Legal Education Committee, and regularly engage with stakeholders and other government departments to explore how we can increase public understanding of the law.
I work closely with my Ministerial colleagues to improve provision of Public Legal Education, and I recently met with The Rt Hon Nick Gibb MP, Minister of State for Education, to discuss how to ensure young people have a strong understanding of the law.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps the Government is taking to (a) tackle the rise in reported male domestic abuse and (b) improve rates of prosecution for male domestic abuse.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The CPS takes cases of domestic abuse extremely seriously and is determined to provide all victims, irrespective of gender, with the greatest possible protection from offending and reoffending.
The CPS provides comprehensive guidance and training on domestic abuse to prosecutors. This includes specific guidance on how to deal with cases involving male victims. The CPS has also led the implementation of a national Domestic Abuse Best Practice Framework in magistrates’ courts across England and Wales. The framework aims to ensure consistent good practice by all criminal justice agencies that deal with cases of domestic abuse.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on weight given to victim statements under the unduly lenient sentencing scheme.
Answered by Robert Buckland
Making a personal statement gives a victim of crime a voice in the criminal justice system. It enables them to explain the impact the crime has had on them in their own words so that it can be taken into account when an offender is sentenced.
The weight to be given to the impact a crime has had on a victim is a matter of discretion for the sentencing judge and will vary from case to case. It is one of several factors that the sentence judge will have to consider.
Where the case is one within the unduly lenient sentencing scheme and the a Law Officer considers that the sentencing judge has not given proper weight to the impact a crime has had on the victim, then they may decide to refer the case to the Court of Appeal as being potentially unduly lenient.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what progress he has made on improving disclosure in the criminal justice system.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Attorney General’s review of the disclosure system, published last month, sets out practical recommendations and a clear plan of action which will hold the leaders of the criminal justice system to account for delivering in their respective areas.
The Attorney General’s Office is working closely with key agencies who are already delivering changes and improvements to both the system and culture in their respective organisations.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Northern Ireland on the prosecution of knife crime in different parts of the UK.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Director of Public Prosecutions regularly meets with her counterpart in Northern Ireland to discuss common issues. The Attorney General will be travelling to Northern Ireland during October to meet with the Northern Ireland Attorney General.
The Government has a published the Serious Violence Strategy to take action to address serious violence including the recent increases in knife crime. The CPS is working with its cross-Government partners to deliver the Strategy, and also supports the police enforcement to tackle knife crime through its Operation Sceptre.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps he is taking with regional police forces to help secure convictions.
Answered by Robert Buckland
In England and Wales the CPS decides which cases should be prosecuted, and then prepares and presents them at court. Decisions are made in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors which requires both an evidential and public interest test to be met before a prosecution can proceed.
The CPS will advise the police and other investigators about possible lines of inquiry and evidential requirements, and assist with pre-charge procedures. The CPS and police hold joint Prosecution Team Performance Meetings where performance, including conviction rates, are discussed and monitored. Local plans are put in place, where appropriate, to improve the outcomes of cases that are charged and prosecuted.
In large-scale investigations, the prosecutor may be asked to advise on the overall investigation strategy, to assist the police and other investigators to enable them to complete the investigation within a reasonable period of time and to build the most effective prosecution case. However, prosecutors cannot direct the police or other investigators.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how he plans to encourage practising lawyers to volunteer pro bono hours for Citizens Advice Bureaux in their local communities.
Answered by Robert Buckland
As the Government's pro bono champions, the Attorney and I chair the pro bono panel and committee to bring together key players to steer and coordinate the overall work in this area. The panel and committee feature members from across the legal community, including Citizens Advice.
Each year the Attorney and I take part in National Pro Bono week. We attend and support pro bono events across the country, to encourage the excellent work being done by the pro bono community. This year Global Pro Bono Week is taking place 29th October – 2nd November, and will involve many organisations across the legal community including members of our pro bono panel and committee like Citizens Advice.
In the past year over 1,000 lawyers provided pro bono help through local Citizens Advice offices and I will continue to encourage more lawyers to do this.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps he is taking to promote pro bono work by lawyers in large law firms.
Answered by Robert Buckland
As the Government’s pro bono champions, the Law Officers chair the pro bono panel and committee to bring together key players to steer and coordinate the overall work in this area. The Law Society is an important member of both and represents the views all solicitors, including large firms, at those meetings.
The Attorney General officially launched the 16th National Pro Bono week at an event hosted by a large law firm, the Law Society and others. During pro bono week, and throughout the year, the Law Officers attend and support pro bono events across the country, to encourage and support the excellent work being done by the pro bono community.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits of training anti-terrorism agencies alongside officials from the CPS so that there is a better understanding of evidence trails required by the CPS for a successful prosecution.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
Terrorism prosecutions are dealt with by a specialist unit within the CPS and there is close working between the CPS, the police and the intelligence services from the launch of an investigation to the conclusion of the trial.
Regular joint training events are held for CPS, police, intelligence services and other government departments. The training has included disclosure process and strategy, terrorism offences, international investigations and mutual legal assistance, warrants of further detention, case study presentations and workshops.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps he is taking to ensure that the CPS deal sensitively with elderly witnesses who are afraid of giving evidence in court.
Answered by Robert Buckland
For elderly people who are vulnerable or intimidated, the CPS supports them as witnesses to give the best evidence that they can. The CPS does this by applying for special measures to, for example, allow them to give evidence by video link, or behind screens. The CPS can also apply for the use of an intermediary and/or communication aids to assist the witness.
The CPS published a policy statement and guidance on prosecuting crimes against older people in 2009. The CPS has committed to updating both documents during 2017 to take into account the larger numbers of older people in society and changes to the nature of crime, such as on-line fraud targeting. The revised guidance and policy statement will address the support available to older victims of crime. The policy statement will be subject to a public consultation to ensure that the CPS considers the views of interested parties.