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1672010

	registered interest
	date	21/11/2023
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Aarhus Convention
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the limit on costs recoverable from an individual party in an Aarhus Convention claim.
	tabling member constituency	North West Norfolk
	tabling member printed	James Wild
	uin	3061
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/11/2023 answer text <p>The Government introduced a revised Environmental Costs Protection Regime (ECPR) in 2018, which allows certain environmental claims to be brought without prohibitive expense.</p><p>The Government is committed to conducting a review of the ECPR and will publish a call for evidence in due course.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 28/11/2023 10:33:47 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
	tabling member	4787 label Biography information for James Wild

1686015

	registered interest
	date	30/01/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Abortion
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has had discussions with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists on its guidance to healthcare professionals relating to the reporting of suspected illegal abortions.
	tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
	tabling member printed	Carla Lockhart
	uin	12206
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2024 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice is responsible for the criminal law relating to abortion. However, the overall policy on abortion is the responsibility of the Department for Health and Social Care. Therefore, the Secretary of State for Justice has not had discussions with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists on its guidance for healthcare staff on “Involvement of the police and external agencies following abortion, pregnancy loss and unexpected delivery”.</p> answering member constituency Newbury answering member printed Laura Farris question first answered 07/02/2024 17:14:35 answering member 4826 label Biography information for Laura Farris
	tabling member	4857 label Biography information for Carla Lockhart

1691360

	registered interest
	date	23/02/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Administration of Justice
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to assess the potential vulnerability of people prosecuted under the single justice procedure.
	tabling member constituency	Caerphilly
	tabling member printed	Wayne David
	uin	15409
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/02/2024 answer text <p>The Government does not intervene in individual cases, including Single Justice Procedure (SJP) cases, which are a matter for the independent judiciary.</p><p> </p><p>SJP is used by a number of approved prosecutors. It is a more proportionate way of dealing with straightforward, uncontested, summary-only non-imprisonable offences. The prosecuting body cannot choose this route for any case which falls outside of these criteria. SJP also cannot be used in cases where a defendant pleads not guilty.</p><p> </p><p>Where a guilty plea is submitted, defendants are able to enter mitigating circumstances, if they wish, alongside their guilty plea, to be considered by the magistrate dealing with their case. Cases where defendants have not responded to a notification that they are being prosecuted may also be dealt with under the SJP.</p><p>For prosecutors, guilty pleas and any entered mitigation are available on the system for them to review as soon as the plea is received online, or as soon as scanned into the system if received by post, however, prosecutors are not required to view this.</p><p> </p><p>Often the defendants’ circumstances and any potential vulnerability are not known until they provide their mitigation. Any mitigation provided under SJP is considered by the magistrate in the same way that it would be in open court. Although prosecutors decide whether to offer defendants the option of having their case dealt with under the SJP, magistrates may refer a case to open court if they think that would be more appropriate rather than continuing under the SJP.</p><p> </p><p>The mitigation provided sometimes suggests that the prosecution may not be in the public interest; a magistrate can then adjourn the case and ask the prosecution to review the mitigation. Alternatively, the magistrate can reduce the penalty imposed and even deal with the case by way of a conditional or absolute discharge. Guidance for magistrates on mitigating factors is provided in the sentencing guidelines.</p><p> </p><p>Support channels are also available to defendants who require clarification of information and processes ranging from web chat or telephone assistance to more intensive face-to-face assistance.</p><p> </p><p>The Government keeps all policies under review and listens to feedback from stakeholders on how they are working.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 28/02/2024 16:55:39 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
	tabling member	1398 label Biography information for Wayne David

1691361

	registered interest
	date	23/02/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Administration of Justice
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of cases under the single justice procedure were not progressed to prosecution because they were deemed to not be in the public interest due to the vulnerability of defendants in each year since 2021.
	tabling member constituency	Caerphilly
	tabling member printed	Wayne David
	uin	15410
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/02/2024 answer text <p>Whilst information on the number of Single Justice Procedure (SJP) cases withdrawn or dismissed is available, we do not hold information on the number of prosecutions not progressed due to not being in the public interest due to the defendants' vulnerability.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 28/02/2024 16:47:46 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
	tabling member	1398 label Biography information for Wayne David

1691362

	registered interest
	date	23/02/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Administration of Justice
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of cases under the single justice procedure were stopped by magistrates as not being in the public interest in each year since 2021.
	tabling member constituency	Caerphilly
	tabling member printed	Wayne David
	uin	15411
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/02/2024 answer text <p>Magistrates have no powers to stop a prosecution on the grounds that it is not in the public interest. A magistrate can refer a case back to the prosecutor and request that they review their decision to prosecute. We do not hold any data on the number of times that this occurs. Alternatively, the magistrate can reduce the penalty imposed and even deal with the case by way of a conditional or absolute discharge. Guidance for magistrates on mitigating factors is provided in the sentencing guidelines.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 28/02/2024 16:59:22 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
	tabling member	1398 label Biography information for Wayne David

1691364

	registered interest
	date	23/02/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Administration of Justice
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) support and (b) information is available to defendants who are prosecuted under the single justice procedure if they believe their prosecution is not in the public interest.
	tabling member constituency	Caerphilly
	tabling member printed	Wayne David
	uin	15412
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/02/2024 answer text <p>It is down to the prosecutor to decide whether the prosecution is in the public interest. The defendant can seek independent legal advice if they wish to.</p><p> </p><p>There are several safeguards built into the Single Justice Procedure (SJP) process to ensure a defendant’s fair trial rights are protected. Defendants retain the right to request a court hearing at any point before their case is considered by a magistrate under the SJP. SJP is available where they waive that right, either expressly, or by failing to respond to the notice, but only in circumstances where the court has first satisfied itself that the relevant documents were served on the accused.</p><p> </p><p>HMCTS provides support channels to defendants who require clarification of information and processes in relation to the SJP ranging from web chat or telephone assistance to more intensive face-to-face assistance via our Courts &amp; Tribunals Service Centre and the ‘We Are Group’ which provides digital support, advice and support.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 28/02/2024 16:54:05 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
	tabling member	1398 label Biography information for Wayne David

1693208

	registered interest
	date	04/03/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Administration of Justice
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of the introduction of unique identifiers for people in the justice system.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff West
	tabling member printed	Kevin Brennan
	uin	16620
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/03/2024 answer text <p>We have not made a recent assessment of the impact of introducing unique identifiers for people in the justice system. <br> <br>However, we have started work to create a single 'Core Person record’ for use across HMPPS. This will begin to remove the multiple records we hold for those in our care, and reduce the amount of manual data matching required. Additionally, our award-winning probabilistic matching tool ‘splink’, has underpinned the linking of data across the justice system, including assessing the substance misuse pathways between justice and health, electronic monitoring curfew and probation case management, which has allowed us to identify individuals as they interact with our interventions and services. This has significantly overcome challenges of not having a unique identifier and has supported policy makers and operational staff in their work to reduce offending and strengthen public protection.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 07/03/2024 12:58:27 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
	tabling member	1400 label Biography information for Kevin Brennan

1695074

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Administration of Justice
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of cases under the single justice procedure were prosecuted in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.
	tabling member constituency	Caerphilly
	tabling member printed	Wayne David
	uin	17821
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/03/2024 answer text <p>The number of defendants dealt with via Single Justice Procedure (SJP) notifications at the magistrates’ courts is published as part of the National Statistics series ‘Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly’. Additionally, this series also provides the total number of defendants dealt with in the magistrates’ court, these can be used to calculate the proportion of SJPs in the magistrates’ caseload.</p><p>The latest published data is available to September 2023 and can be found in Tables T1 &amp; T2 which are accessible by the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2023" target="_blank">Criminal court statistics quarterly: July to September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).</a></p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 14/03/2024 17:06:55 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
	tabling member	1398 label Biography information for Wayne David

1695075

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Administration of Justice
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Equality Act 2010 on legal cases brought forward via the single justice procedure.
	tabling member constituency	Caerphilly
	tabling member printed	Wayne David
	uin	17822
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/03/2024 answer text <p>The Single Justice Procedure (SJP) was introduced under the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015. Prior to the introduction of the procedure, in accordance with the Equalities Act 2010, an equality impact assessment was undertaken in relation to SJP. This concluded that on the basis of the available evidence, the planned change in summary justice would not lead to any positive or negative impact on people with protected characteristics.</p><p> </p><p>HMCTS committed to the Justice Select Committee to collect protected characteristic data in all reform services. This includes protected characteristic data for SJP, which has been monitored since 2023.</p><p> </p><p>The decision to prosecute under SJP is a decision for the prosecutor and not the Government.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 14/03/2024 17:07:37 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
	tabling member	1398 label Biography information for Wayne David

1695076

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2024
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Administration of Justice
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an estimate of the average number of single justice procedure cases magistrates presided over per day in the last 12 months.
	tabling member constituency	Caerphilly
	tabling member printed	Wayne David
	uin	17823
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/03/2024 answer text <p>There were 251 distinct days in which Single Justice Procedure (SJP) cases were heard in a magistrates’ court between October 2022 and September 2023.</p><p>The latest published data on completed SJP cases is available to September 2023 and can be found in Table T1 which is accessible at the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2023" target="_blank">Criminal court statistics quarterly: July to September 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).</a></p><p>Based on this information, the average number of SJP cases completed per working day is 3,151. This excludes weekends and the 9 public holidays.</p> answering member constituency Finchley and Golders Green answering member printed Mike Freer question first answered 14/03/2024 17:08:22 answering member 4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer
	tabling member	1398 label Biography information for Wayne David