"I too welcome the obtaining of this debate by the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, and want to return, as we often should, to the actual Question in the debate. We shall have plenty of time to look at the Bill when it gets here. We are not on the Bill …..." Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd - View Speech
"My Lords, I briefly rise in support of the aims of the amendment in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman. I urge that we get on—as the noble Baronesses, Lady Hayman and Lady Penn, have so eloquently said. Listening to the debate, I do not think that there …..." Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd - View Speech
"My Lords, I will make one or two brief observations about this, if I may. First, I must declare an interest, in that about 10 years ago I was made an honorary vice-president of CILEX. In case it is thought that I am speaking with the interests of CILEX in …..." Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd - View Speech
"My Lords, the issue of costs in private prosecutions is an extraordinarily serious one. The noble Lord, Lord Sandhurst, has spoken of the position of charities, the RSPCA being one example. One can well understand the position of a charity conducting a prosecution through a small solicitor where costs are …..." Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd - View Speech
"The Government have had nine months. Normally, if you went to a competent lawyer and said, “This is the evidence. We need a solution”, you would be horrified if you had to wait nine months. Why is there not an answer? Can we have one when this comes back on …..." Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd - View Speech
"My Lords, I support the principle behind Amendment 61. The real question is: how quickly can this be done?
I want to give an illustration of a problem that has arisen in civil courts across the world: the ability of artificial intelligence to hallucinate—to create cases and precedents for lawyers …..." Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd - View Speech
"My Lords,I shall make two observations. The first relates to the remark made by the noble Lord, Lord Sandhurst, in relation to how judges will exercise these powers and whether guidance will be given. No doubt the Lady Chief Justice will consider whether to give guidance, or such …..." Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd - View Speech
"My Lords, I will make a few observations. No one can doubt the revulsion towards sexual offenders who have attacked their own children or have the potential to do so, but there are two practical points that we must bear in mind.
"My Lords, I will make a brief observation about the amendment. The exercise of this power by a judge is never going to be easy, and we should be very cautious about the way this is introduced. Let us first see how it works with people who have the experience …..." Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd - View Speech