Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 13 March (HL2225), what is their policy on limiting the discretion of courts to refuse to make a compensation order on the basis of the behaviour of the victim; and what information they hold on the percentage of cases in which compensation was refused for such reasons in the last year for which figures are available.

Under the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, courts are required to consider making a compensation order in cases involving personal injury, loss or damage, and to give reasons where no such order is made. There are no current plans to amend the court’s powers in respect of compensation orders.

Sentencing in individual cases is entirely a matter for the independent courts taking into account the circumstances of the case.

The Ministry of Justice has published information on convictions and sentencing up to December 2018, which is available in the ‘Outcomes by Offence data tool’, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/802314/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2018.xlsx

Information on the sentencing considerations for individual cases is not held centrally and would require a manual search of court records which would be of disproportionate cost.