Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps he is taking to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of 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.
I am encouraged that the leaders of the police and prosecution now fully understand the need for change. Together we will make sure that public confidence in the disclosure system is restored.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps the CPS is taking to increase the effectiveness of prosecutions for hate crimes.
Answered by Robert Buckland
Tackling hate crime is a priority for the CPS and it has taken a number of steps to improve the effectiveness of prosecutions.
The CPS Hate Crime Annual Report shows that the proportion of cases where the CPS was successful in achieving uplifted sentences for hate crime perpetrators increased dramatically last year. The proportion rose from 33.8% in 2015/16, to 52.2% in 2016/17 – reaching 58.2% in the final quarter.
The CPS has delivered mandatory face to face disability hate crime training and racially and religiously aggravated hate crime training, and is in the process of delivering homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate crime training. In August 2017, the CPS published revised legal guidance for prosecutors on all strands of hate crime. The revised legal guidance and training support prosecutors to more effectively deal with hate crime cases.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Attorney General:
What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the unduly lenient sentence scheme.
Answered by Jeremy Wright
The number of sentences considered by the Solicitor General and I has more than doubled since 2010 – from 342 to 837 requests in 2016. Last year we took 190 of these cases to the Court of Appeal for consideration. The Court of Appeal agreed to increase the sentences of 141 offenders.