Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they reconcile their support for the withdrawal of UK judges from Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal on human rights grounds with the continued participation of UK judges in appeals concerning colonial-era laws that ham the rights and dignity of LGBTQ+ people in Caribbean countries.
Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is an independent court which serves as the final court of appeal for jurisdictions that have chosen to retain it in this role.
The circumstances of the JCPC are different from those which led serving UK judges to cease sitting on Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal.
The Government does not regard the participation of UK judges in JCPC cases as an endorsement of the laws which form the subject of proceedings. The role of the court is to determine the legal disputes brought before it independently and in accordance with the law of the relevant jurisdiction.
Asked by: Baroness Bertin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the proposed new sections 67A and 67D of the Criminal Justice Act 2008, as provided for in section 104 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026, will come into effect.
Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Crime and Policing Act 2026 contains a wide range of measures to strengthen the criminal law. The Government is working with law enforcement and other partners and will bring the remaining provisions into force as quickly as practicable.
We are progressing work to bring these offences into force this autumn, balancing speed with operational considerations and wider system impacts. We will clearly communicate to the public when these measures are commenced.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department spent on interpreters and related translation services in 2025.
Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The total spend by the Ministry of Justice on interpreters and related translation services during the 2025 calendar year was £41,945,961.34.
This figure includes expenditure on contracted spoken language interpreting (£30,127,536.45), non-spoken language interpreting (£1,849,519.44), translation and transcription (£2,988,335.45), and quality assurance services across the Ministry of Justice estate, including commissioning bodies (£524,692.00). It also includes off-contract language services expenditure incurred by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (£6,455,878.00). During the 2025 calendar year, more than 150,000 interpreter service requests were fulfilled across the Ministry of Justice estate.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have compared the one-off and recurring cost of requiring separate codes of conduct under the terms of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill and the associated systems across all public authorities with the cost of one single national core code of conduct; and if not, whether they intend to do so and publish the figures.
Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Most public bodies will already be covered by a form of a Code of Ethical Conduct. The Bill provides public authorities the flexibility to tailor a code to best meet the needs of their organisation and sector. The cost impact for the majority of public authorities is not anticipated to be substantial. An impact assessment will be undertaken post Royal Assent alongside wider implementation plans.
Asked by: Lord Moylan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recommendation by the Court of Appeal in Haycock v R (EWCA Crim 1105) that there should be a systematic review process to ensure that individuals still subject to imprisonment for public protection and detention for public protection sentences are adequately identified and provided with legal advice.
Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes routine data on prisoners serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences in custody in the Offender Management Statistics publication. This is available online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly.
Prison staff are required to assist any prisoner who wishes to request legal advice by providing lists of legal advisers, supplying appropriate forms, and assisting prisoners to complete them where requested due to language or literacy difficulties.
Criminal legal aid is available for eligible IPP and DPP offenders for parole proceedings and for related preliminary or incidental proceedings. Information on finding a legal aid adviser is available at: Find a Legal Aid Adviser or Family Mediator. Alternatively, organisations, such as the Association of Prison Lawyers or the Prisoners' Advice Service, may be able to assist in finding a prison law adviser.
On 1 September, the Lord Chancellor announced that the Government will bring an end to the sentence for those who continue to serve it and will bring forward legislation to do this by the end of this Parliament. These are complex cases, involving important public protection and victim considerations. Reform will take time to get right.
Asked by: Viscount Stansgate (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Powers of Attorney Act 2023 on the Lasting Power of Attorney application process.
Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Powers of Attorney Act 2023 has not yet been commenced. The Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) are working to finalise the design of the modernised service this Act facilitates, including how this will be translated into legislation. This is a significant transformation for OPG, and it is important that we take the appropriate time to get the new service design right to enable an enhanced process to make and register a Lasting Power of Attorney for users. We remain fully committed to modernising the process to make it easier and more secure, whilst securing OPG's long term financial sustainability.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what evidence they have that minimum standards of candour, honesty, integrity, accountability, openness, and transparency should differ between public authorities, rather than being set out in a single national minimum standard which individual authorities may supplement.
Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Under the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, public authorities will be required to adopt and publish Codes of Ethical Conduct. These can be tailored to meet the requirements of their workforces and sectors. The Bill sets out the minimum requirements that public authorities must meet for their Code to be compliant.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many separate codes of conduct they expect clause 10 of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill to produce; and what work will be involved collectively in preparing, approving, maintaining, and administering these codes of conduct.
Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
All core public authorities will be required to adopt and publish a Code of Ethical Conduct. This includes all central government departments, National Health Services bodies, local authorities, police forces and state schools. Approximately six million public sector workers across the public sector are within scope of this requirement. Public authorities will be responsible for promoting and maintaining their Codes of Ethical Conduct. Statutory guidance will be published to support public authorities to comply with the duties in clause 10 of the Bill.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to reply to the letters from the hon. Member for West Suffolk of 26 June and 3 September 2026 regarding USAF Lakenheath.
Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Department recognises the importance of responding to correspondence from Honourable and Right Honourable Members in a timely manner.
The Hon. Member's letters of 26 June and 3 September have been received and were carefully considered. The Hon. Member has now received a response, and I apologise for the delay.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether Axel Rudakubana has assaulted any (a) staff and (b) patients at Broadmoor Hospital; how long he is expected to be held there; and for what reason he was moved there from HMP Belmarsh.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We do not comment on the management of prisoners transferred into secure hospitals from custody, including on allegations about their actions. Such matters fall to the detaining hospital to address either through their own security procedures or where appropriate with their local police force.
Section 47 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (the 1983 Act) provides for the transfer of prisoners from custody to secure psychiatric hospitals to receive treatment under the 1983 Act. Such transfers require clear clinical evidence provided by at least two registered medical practitioners, ordinarily consultant-level psychiatrists, who are recognised by the Secretary of State as having special experience in the diagnosis or treatment of mental disorders.
When deciding to transfer a prisoner to hospital, the Secretary of State will closely scrutinise the medical evidence to assess whether the criteria for a transfer under section 47 of the 1983 Act are met.
At the point a prisoner, who has been transferred to hospital, no longer meets the criteria for detention under the 1983 Act, they will return to prison to continue serving their custodial sentence.
A transfer under section 47 of the 1983 Act has no effect on the sentence a prisoner will serve. In Axel Rudakubana’s case, only the Parole Board can direct his release, and the Board will not consider that until the expiry of his 52-year tariff in 2076.