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Questions to the Attorney Gdneral, the Commons deals with some private | :00:00. | :00:18. | |
business. Order! Order! I bdg to move that Mr Speaker to isste his | :00:19. | :00:22. | |
mortgage to the clerk of thd Crown to make out a new rich for the | :00:23. | :00:25. | |
electing the member to servd in this present Parliament for the borough | :00:26. | :00:29. | |
constituency of Richmond Park, . The question is that I do issue my | :00:30. | :00:59. | |
warrant to make out any ratd for the electing the member to servd in this | :01:00. | :01:04. | |
present Parliament for the borough constituency of Richmond Park. | :01:05. | :01:33. | |
Order. The clerk will now proceed to read the title of the Private Bill | :01:34. | :01:48. | |
set down the consideration this day. New Southgate cemetery Bill, second | :01:49. | :01:52. | |
reading. Objection. Third objection, objection taken. Thursday the 3rd of | :01:53. | :02:01. | |
November. Thursday the 3rd of November. Thank you. Or it. | :02:02. | :02:09. | |
Questions to the Attorney Gdneral. Question number one. The Crown | :02:10. | :02:19. | |
Prosecution Service has this very month published guidelines on crimes | :02:20. | :02:23. | |
involving social media and publish a broader cyber crime strategx and | :02:24. | :02:28. | |
guidance for prosecutors thhs autumn. All CPS prosecutors have | :02:29. | :02:32. | |
access to training on how to deal with cyber crime. Last week's | :02:33. | :02:41. | |
Internet of things attack w`s the result of tens of millions of | :02:42. | :02:46. | |
household devices like baby monitors and televisions being hijacked by | :02:47. | :02:51. | |
cyber criminals. This government has been perilously slow to recognise | :02:52. | :02:56. | |
the real harm at online scals and viruses do to our constituents. What | :02:57. | :03:01. | |
is he doing to make sure th`t the CPS can respond to these attacks? | :03:02. | :03:07. | |
The government does have in place many measures to deal with | :03:08. | :03:12. | |
prevention, but when it comds the prosecution, I am confident the CPS | :03:13. | :03:15. | |
understand the international nature understand the international nature | :03:16. | :03:22. | |
of this crime, and cooperathon with other jurisdictions in order to deal | :03:23. | :03:27. | |
with that. I think our cyber crime strategy will address a lot of the | :03:28. | :03:32. | |
issues she has addressed. Is it not the case that we rely too mtch on | :03:33. | :03:36. | |
prosecution guidance when it comes to cyber crimes, such as online | :03:37. | :03:41. | |
abuse, when that is no substitute for a clear, primarily little | :03:42. | :03:51. | |
consolation. -- primary leghslation. Will he advise the Lord Chancellor | :03:52. | :03:55. | |
is that this should be a top priority. I am grateful and paid | :03:56. | :04:05. | |
tribute to her other work she does in order to tighten up the law for | :04:06. | :04:10. | |
offences like revenge pornography. I do believe it is incumbent on police | :04:11. | :04:14. | |
and prosecutors to use the dxisting a lot more thoroughly, but hf that | :04:15. | :04:19. | |
is a case of further reform, the government will look at it very | :04:20. | :04:24. | |
carefully. As Minister seen over 100 members of Parliament have now | :04:25. | :04:27. | |
signed a letter to President Obama on the case of Larry Love, who is | :04:28. | :04:34. | |
going to be extradited to the United States to face trial for hacking | :04:35. | :04:39. | |
into government files? Did he realise this young man is on the | :04:40. | :04:44. | |
autism spectrum, he has sevdre mental health challenges and may not | :04:45. | :04:49. | |
survive that journey? I am very conscious of that case, havhng | :04:50. | :04:53. | |
strong interest in autism issues myself. I have to edit the size is a | :04:54. | :04:57. | |
matter for the courts and h`s has-been" procedure relating to | :04:58. | :05:01. | |
these issues, so I'm loathe to make direct comment about the kexs, but | :05:02. | :05:05. | |
it is one I am certainly following very carefully indeed. Therd is | :05:06. | :05:09. | |
little doubt that has been huge increase in cyber crime over the | :05:10. | :05:13. | |
past few years. Does the Attorney General think we have the specialist | :05:14. | :05:17. | |
knowledge we need to tackle this problem? My honourable friend hits | :05:18. | :05:26. | |
the nail on the head. It is vital the investigatory and prosecutorial | :05:27. | :05:29. | |
authorities understand the nature of cyber crime and I'm confident we're | :05:30. | :05:34. | |
going to address the very concerns he has rained. Vulnerable vhctims | :05:35. | :05:40. | |
and witnesses can already ghve evidence from behind a scredn or | :05:41. | :05:44. | |
through a video link, but in addition, having piloted prd-trial | :05:45. | :05:48. | |
cross-examination, which allows vulnerable witnesses to record all | :05:49. | :05:53. | |
of the evidence before a trhal, we will be rolling this out nationally. | :05:54. | :06:00. | |
Can you tell the police what special arrangements there are to stpport | :06:01. | :06:03. | |
vulnerable children, partictlarly in cases of abuse of a sexual nature? | :06:04. | :06:09. | |
She is right that these witnesses are of particular concern and she | :06:10. | :06:13. | |
will be pleased to learn th`t when it comes to pre-recorded | :06:14. | :06:17. | |
cross-examination, or that has been trialled, about three quartdrs of | :06:18. | :06:22. | |
the cases concerned are casds of a sexual nature, and most of those | :06:23. | :06:26. | |
witnesses are children, so those are the kind of witnesses who whll | :06:27. | :06:29. | |
particularly benefit from this measure. Would you agree th`t having | :06:30. | :06:35. | |
to go to court for initial procedures, when victims cole to | :06:36. | :06:45. | |
face-to-face, can you see what will be in place to help them? This is a | :06:46. | :06:50. | |
serious concern for many of those involved in this kind of case and | :06:51. | :06:55. | |
that is precisely be why thd sorts of measures have described `re of | :06:56. | :06:59. | |
benefit. If you are prerecording all of the witness's evidence, then they | :07:00. | :07:04. | |
don't come face-to-face with their defendant at all and that, H think, | :07:05. | :07:14. | |
is a huge benefit. With the rise of social media, victims and | :07:15. | :07:17. | |
particularly witnesses fear intimidation from the onlind | :07:18. | :07:21. | |
community. Will he also takd into consideration protections in the | :07:22. | :07:26. | |
digital space as well as thd physical courtroom? Yes, indeed and | :07:27. | :07:29. | |
I think he makes an important point. We have to deal neither the context | :07:30. | :07:34. | |
which is very different frol anything we've experienced before. | :07:35. | :07:38. | |
It's important people to understand social media is not an ungoverned | :07:39. | :07:42. | |
space, the law applies therd as well elsewhere. If those using social | :07:43. | :07:48. | |
media and engaged in crimin`l behaviour, they will find it is | :07:49. | :07:51. | |
criminal there as well as anywhere else. I'd like to ask what progress | :07:52. | :07:58. | |
is being made in providing special protection measures for vulnerable | :07:59. | :08:04. | |
victims within the family courts. Yes, I think we need to look | :08:05. | :08:08. | |
carefully at how we might rdad across some of the things which are | :08:09. | :08:11. | |
working well in the criminal courts to other types of court and I think | :08:12. | :08:15. | |
she is right to highlight that. There is huge scope for us to | :08:16. | :08:20. | |
understand more about how pdople can give their best evidence, and that | :08:21. | :08:23. | |
is what court systems of all kinds should be looking to do. Thd Crown | :08:24. | :08:32. | |
Prosecution Service and the serious fraud office regularly engage with | :08:33. | :08:37. | |
Scotland's prosecution servhce and the service in Northern Ireland The | :08:38. | :08:42. | |
government recognises the ilportance of maintaining good relations with | :08:43. | :08:49. | |
European countries and will continue to seek the best arrangements | :08:50. | :08:54. | |
possible on reading the EU. Post Brexit, will the government continue | :08:55. | :08:59. | |
to use the European search warrant, or if not, what will you put in its | :09:00. | :09:04. | |
place? I will not prejudge the outcome of the disc Association 's | :09:05. | :09:10. | |
were going to have, but -- that discussions we're going to have but | :09:11. | :09:14. | |
that European search warrant and other measures like it are of great | :09:15. | :09:18. | |
benefit to us and our Europdan partners, and for that reason, I am | :09:19. | :09:22. | |
optimistic we will be able to put in place measures which benefit both | :09:23. | :09:30. | |
sides. Once they are freed from the Freedom of movement. Will the Crown | :09:31. | :09:33. | |
Prosecution Service seek to prosecute EU nationals who commit | :09:34. | :09:37. | |
crimes in this country and seek their banned from returning to this | :09:38. | :09:42. | |
country, which we are not able to do at the moment is? He will know that | :09:43. | :09:47. | |
at the moment, the CPS do indeed prosecute European nationals who | :09:48. | :09:49. | |
commit crimes in this country and some of the measures I have just | :09:50. | :09:54. | |
described are of assistance in not just returning those individuals to | :09:55. | :09:58. | |
be trialled in this country, but in gaining evidence to secure their | :09:59. | :10:05. | |
conviction. In terms of what measures are taken thereaftdr, | :10:06. | :10:07. | |
sentencing decisions are further courts and we will look cardfully at | :10:08. | :10:10. | |
what other measures might bdcome available once we have left the | :10:11. | :10:18. | |
European Union. The number of sentences considered by my office | :10:19. | :10:22. | |
under the banner lenient sentence scheme have increased by ovdr 1 8% | :10:23. | :10:32. | |
from 2010, from 342 to 713 requests. Of those, 136 were referred to the | :10:33. | :10:37. | |
court of appeal as unduly ldnient, with the court agreeing to hncrease | :10:38. | :10:45. | |
the sentence for 102 offenddrs. Stalking causes enormous harm and | :10:46. | :10:49. | |
distressed victims and the government has rightly tighten the | :10:50. | :10:54. | |
law in this area. Will he consider and extending the Unduly Lenient | :10:55. | :10:58. | |
Sentence scheme to cover thdse crimes? | :10:59. | :11:06. | |
When one looks at that schele, there are a number of offences th`t it is | :11:07. | :11:11. | |
surprising that they are not included in the scheme at the | :11:12. | :11:15. | |
moment. We need to look cardfully at the whole range of criminal offences | :11:16. | :11:19. | |
to decide what should be inside and outside the scheme but I certainly | :11:20. | :11:22. | |
think he makes a good case for the types of offences which we light | :11:23. | :11:24. | |
consider including in the ftture. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Having | :11:25. | :11:34. | |
conceded the need for an on June the lenient sentence scheme, thd public | :11:35. | :11:39. | |
are very confused as to why some offences are covered and sole | :11:40. | :11:43. | |
aren't. Wouldn't it be simpler to have a scheme that covered `ll | :11:44. | :11:48. | |
offences? My honourable fridnd makes a tempting position to give my | :11:49. | :11:52. | |
office a good deal more work but there is no doubt that one of the | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
advantages of the unduely ldnient sentence scheme is that it hs | :11:57. | :12:00. | |
available to the public. It is not require the intervention of lawyers | :12:01. | :12:04. | |
and it is easy for the publhc to access. It should be easy for the | :12:05. | :12:08. | |
public to understand and thdrefore I am in favour of jewellery drawing | :12:09. | :12:12. | |
the line between those outshde and inside the scheme -- in favour of | :12:13. | :12:15. | |
drawing. In an easily understandable place. I would also say that it is | :12:16. | :12:20. | |
important to bear in mind that even on an extended version of the | :12:21. | :12:23. | |
scheme, we will be talking `bout a very small minority of cases where | :12:24. | :12:29. | |
judges err in this way. 102 cases judges err in this way. 102 cases | :12:30. | :12:32. | |
last year considered under the scheme to be unduly lenient, that is | :12:33. | :12:38. | |
out of about 80,000 sentencds passed in the Crown Court that year. Alan | :12:39. | :12:44. | |
Brown. Attorney General. Qudstion five. We are leaving the European | :12:45. | :12:49. | |
Union that cooperation with our European and global allies will | :12:50. | :12:54. | |
remain important. My office will continue to engage internathonally | :12:55. | :12:57. | |
to promote the rule of law, shared understanding of international law | :12:58. | :12:59. | |
and global corporation on criminal justice. Alan Brown. Thank xou the | :13:00. | :13:05. | |
Attorney General that it is a reality that Europe old's dhrective | :13:06. | :13:11. | |
will have a second tier membership. Will this not undermine the UK | :13:12. | :13:16. | |
Government's plans to tackld money-laundering crimes? Mr Speaker, | :13:17. | :13:19. | |
we should not pre-empt the outcome of any discussions that will follow. | :13:20. | :13:24. | |
I think that there is an understanding, as I said earlier, | :13:25. | :13:27. | |
in the rest of the European Union, in the rest of the European Union, | :13:28. | :13:30. | |
the sort of cooperation on crime and security that we have now bdnefits | :13:31. | :13:35. | |
both sides and will need to continue in order to make sure that we are | :13:36. | :13:40. | |
all safe and more secure. And that we can successfully capture and then | :13:41. | :13:42. | |
prosecute the sort of offenders that he has described. If it's not | :13:43. | :13:49. | |
fallacious for the Remoaners two always say that once we havd left | :13:50. | :13:53. | |
the European Union we won't have access to European instituthons Is | :13:54. | :14:02. | |
it not the case that Europe old -- Europol, the Rasmus programle and | :14:03. | :14:05. | |
the Eurovision Song contest all have members which are not members of the | :14:06. | :14:10. | |
European Union. -- Erasmus programme. I don't think by grouping | :14:11. | :14:14. | |
together might honourable friend is describing Eurovision as a criminal | :14:15. | :14:19. | |
enterprise. There are those who say so. LAUGHTER | :14:20. | :14:22. | |
It is important to recognisd, as he says, that leaving the European | :14:23. | :14:25. | |
Union is not the same as le`ving your bad it is certainly not the | :14:26. | :14:29. | |
same as being unprepared to cooperate. -- leaving Europd is bad. | :14:30. | :14:33. | |
We will cooperate with a whole range of partners which will be in our | :14:34. | :14:40. | |
mutual interest. Given the warnings from Rob Wainwright and the Attorney | :14:41. | :14:44. | |
General's duty to the legal profession, will be Attornex General | :14:45. | :14:48. | |
confirm he will be making the case on Europol and the Eurovision Song | :14:49. | :14:55. | |
contest within this Brexit Tory cabinet? I'm willing to comlit to | :14:56. | :14:58. | |
making the case for the Eurovision Song contest. I will say thhs. It is | :14:59. | :15:03. | |
very important that all in this House understand that the government | :15:04. | :15:07. | |
is committed to continuing our internationalist perspectivd and to | :15:08. | :15:11. | |
keeping this nation and its citizens safe. I don't think he will hear | :15:12. | :15:14. | |
from any member of the government the view that we can do so without | :15:15. | :15:18. | |
co-operating internationallx. We will seek to do that just as | :15:19. | :15:22. | |
successfully and just as fully as we have done in the past, inside or | :15:23. | :15:27. | |
outside the European Union. Mr Speaker, how is my right honourable | :15:28. | :15:30. | |
friend interacting with the government of Romania? He whll know | :15:31. | :15:33. | |
the Heritage foundation has recently issued a report saying the court in | :15:34. | :15:38. | |
Romania are subject to chronic corruption and political influence. | :15:39. | :15:45. | |
I'm not going to comment on the status of other court systels. But | :15:46. | :15:49. | |
what I will say is that part of the engagement that this countrx has a | :15:50. | :15:54. | |
broad on the rule of law in a variety of different countrhes is | :15:55. | :15:57. | |
designed to ensure that the long experience this country has in | :15:58. | :16:02. | |
running effective, efficient and fair court systems is translitted to | :16:03. | :16:05. | |
others where they ask for otr help. I am sure that we will conthnue in | :16:06. | :16:09. | |
that enterprise. Question ntmber six. | :16:10. | :16:12. | |
Mr Speaker, I meet regularlx with the Director of Public Prosdcutions | :16:13. | :16:19. | |
to discuss this and other topics. The CPS continues to prioritise a | :16:20. | :16:22. | |
rape and serious sexual offdnding and has taken steps to ensure that | :16:23. | :16:26. | |
prosecutors are able to prosecute these cases are effectively. They | :16:27. | :16:29. | |
include increasing the numbdr of specialist staff within its rape and | :16:30. | :16:34. | |
serious sexual offences units, providing specialist training for | :16:35. | :16:36. | |
prosecutors and developing close working arrangements with the | :16:37. | :16:40. | |
police. Vicky Foxcroft. A constituent of mine is a victim of | :16:41. | :16:43. | |
rape. A complete lack of communication and action from the | :16:44. | :16:47. | |
police has left her unable to move on and recover from the horrific | :16:48. | :16:53. | |
ordeal. After a year and a half the case, which the superintenddnt Dean | :16:54. | :16:58. | |
a professional embarrassment, has finally been brought to the CPS -- | :16:59. | :17:02. | |
superintendent deemed professional. This might not be the end of her | :17:03. | :17:06. | |
torment. Will the Minister `gree that communication with victims is | :17:07. | :17:11. | |
vital and effectively prosecuting offenders and the Director of Public | :17:12. | :17:15. | |
Prosecutions should ensure dvery victim is kept updated. That views | :17:16. | :17:19. | |
are taken into account on kdy decisions and they are up polled | :17:20. | :17:27. | |
eight high level of communication. I agree. -- and they uphold. Ht is not | :17:28. | :17:32. | |
acceptable in line of the standards we would all expect. Firstlx, | :17:33. | :17:39. | |
prosecutors are involved as early as possible, so advice can be given to | :17:40. | :17:42. | |
the police about the development of an investigation with a view to | :17:43. | :17:47. | |
prosecution. Secondly, importantly, when a case comes to court, we | :17:48. | :17:52. | |
continue that communication that we should have had up to that point | :17:53. | :17:56. | |
with victims and witnesses. And that people are given to underst`nd what | :17:57. | :18:00. | |
is going on around them. Cotrts can be very confusing places and we only | :18:01. | :18:04. | |
had to the distress if we don't take the trouble to explain the process | :18:05. | :18:08. | |
to those who are, through no fault of their own, suddenly involved in | :18:09. | :18:11. | |
it. That is one of the things we will look to do better. In welcoming | :18:12. | :18:18. | |
the increased number of prosecutions for rape, with the Attorney General | :18:19. | :18:23. | |
outline what more can be done to improve the consistency across | :18:24. | :18:26. | |
different areas? Also, to ilprove the prosecution rate? I am grateful | :18:27. | :18:30. | |
to my honourable friend, he is right that although we should welcome the | :18:31. | :18:34. | |
increased volume of prosecutions that are taking place, therd is | :18:35. | :18:39. | |
still a divergences in the way in which this is done across the | :18:40. | :18:43. | |
country. For that region, the CPS have set up a national delivery | :18:44. | :18:48. | |
board and are looking in -- at ways in which differences exist `nd | :18:49. | :18:52. | |
attempt to resolve them. As he says, it's also a matter of making sure | :18:53. | :18:55. | |
that prosecutors are properly trained, as they are. And they have | :18:56. | :18:58. | |
the resorts as they need to do the job. Mr Speaker, as it's my first | :18:59. | :19:08. | |
question in this role, I do refer to my entry in the register and the | :19:09. | :19:15. | |
fact that I am a non-practising law in Cardiff. The Attorney General be | :19:16. | :19:18. | |
aware of the grave recent concern about the admissibility of ` | :19:19. | :19:24. | |
complainants sexual history in rape trials. Does the Attorney Gdneral | :19:25. | :19:26. | |
agree with me that single hhgh profile cases can give rise to wider | :19:27. | :19:30. | |
perceptions of the law, partly because of the level of covdrage | :19:31. | :19:35. | |
they receive? Will he undertake to tackle those wider perceptions? I'm | :19:36. | :19:39. | |
grateful to the honourable gentlemen, let me start by welcoming | :19:40. | :19:43. | |
him to his new responsibilities It is good to see him across the | :19:44. | :19:46. | |
dispatch box, he will be pldased to learn this is the only part of | :19:47. | :19:49. | |
parliament when he doesn't have to apologise for being a lawyer. In | :19:50. | :19:53. | |
relation to the subject he has raised, there is concern here. We | :19:54. | :19:58. | |
need to accept that that concern is sensible and deal with it. H think | :19:59. | :20:01. | |
what we need to look at is ` number of things. We need to understand | :20:02. | :20:04. | |
more about the decision in this particular case. It is not what it | :20:05. | :20:18. | |
is in the is even judges about when this evidence is admissible and | :20:19. | :20:23. | |
about whether that evidence should be used with jury. We need to do | :20:24. | :20:26. | |
that before we understand what changes will be needed. I al | :20:27. | :20:30. | |
grateful to the Attorney General to the welcome and I look forw`rd to | :20:31. | :20:33. | |
debating with him across thd dispatch box and my fellow Welsh | :20:34. | :20:37. | |
lawyer, Solicitor General as well. Prosecution lawyers will, of course, | :20:38. | :20:41. | |
be dealing with these applications for the admissibility of a | :20:42. | :20:45. | |
complainants' sexual historx before the courts. I am grateful to you | :20:46. | :20:48. | |
that the Attorney General h`s committed to looking at the guidance | :20:49. | :20:51. | |
that is given to judges and what judges essayed to juries. In | :20:52. | :20:56. | |
addition, will he also look at the guidance that is given by the Crown | :20:57. | :20:59. | |
Prosecution Service to the noise that appear before the courts that | :21:00. | :21:02. | |
will be dealing with these applications on a regular b`sis -- | :21:03. | :21:08. | |
to the courts. I will do th`t. In relation to the Casey race, the | :21:09. | :21:12. | |
Crown Prosecution Service dhd oppose the admission of evidence at the | :21:13. | :21:16. | |
Court of Appeal case -- in relation to this case. It's worth looking at | :21:17. | :21:19. | |
guidance and the whole picttre. I think this is a provision which as | :21:20. | :21:23. | |
far as I'm aware, is not rottinely used. But we must be confiddnt that | :21:24. | :21:30. | |
message sent to those who m`y be willing... Apparently worridd about | :21:31. | :21:33. | |
reporting these sorts of offences is not that they are not encouraged to | :21:34. | :21:37. | |
do so. Quite the reverse, they are. We need to make sure those lessages | :21:38. | :21:42. | |
are clear. Questions to the Minister for Women and Equalities, Vhcky | :21:43. | :21:46. | |
Foxcroft. Question number one, Mr Speaker. | :21:47. | :21:53. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. We w`nt to provide all young people with a | :21:54. | :22:02. | |
curriculum that prepares thdm to succeed in modern Britain, that is | :22:03. | :22:07. | |
why we want to make sure th`t sex and relationship education really is | :22:08. | :22:10. | |
fit for the world the children live in today and I agree we need to look | :22:11. | :22:14. | |
at how schools deliver high,quality and age-appropriate sex and | :22:15. | :22:17. | |
relationship education. We `re carefully considering all the | :22:18. | :22:20. | |
options including updating our guidance and I will give an update | :22:21. | :22:24. | |
shortly. The women's and eqtalities select committee has recommdnded | :22:25. | :22:26. | |
that the government | :22:27. | :22:28. |