Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many employees of the Serious Fraud Office were deployed to combat money laundering created through waste crime as of 15 June 2022.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) does not structure its employees around particular categories of financial crime and therefore does not hold data on the number of employees deployed to combat money laundering created through waste crime.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what the average turnaround time has been for inquest applications by the Attorney General to the High Court under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Section 13 of the Coroners Act 1988 permits an application to be made to the High Court for either an order for a fresh inquest into a death, or an order to hold an inquest if one has not already been held. An application under section 13 cannot be brought unless the Attorney General’s authority – referred to as her ‘fiat’ – has been obtained. Once the Attorney General has granted or refused her fiat, the Attorney General’s Office does not usually have any further role in the process.
An applicant has six weeks from the grant of the Attorney General’s fiat to make an application to the High Court. The High Court will then decide whether to order an investigation to be carried out in accordance with Part 1 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.
Neither the Attorney General’s Office nor the Ministry of Justice hold data on how long it takes between the Attorney’s fiat being granted and the High Court disposing of an application made under section 13.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, with reference to the report of the Independent review of gross negligence manslaughter and culpable homicide, commissioned by the General Medical Council, published in June 2019, whether the CPS has taken steps to implement the recommendation on enhancing the transparency and understanding of its decision-making process.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The CPS published updated legal guidance on gross negligence manslaughter in May 2019, to help make decision-making in these cases more transparent and to provide comprehensive and up-to-date guidance on the offence of gross negligence manslaughter in a medical setting, incorporating the recent relevant case law.
Evidence of medical experts will be required in all cases of medical manslaughter. Experts have to be suitably qualified and are selected on the basis of having recent and relevant expertise on the area of medicine concerned. Experts are provided with terms of reference on the elements of the offence before providing their advice. For cases where a charging decision of gross negligence manslaughter is under consideration, the prosecutor and counsel will meet with the expert to discuss the report and the evidential test. Any information which meets the disclosure test will be provided to the defence if a prosecution is commenced.
Since April 2019, all case decisions relating to charges of gross negligence manslaughter are made by specialist prosecutors or senior specialist prosecutors within the CPS Special Crime Division, and are taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.