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1464425

registered interest
date	19/05/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Crown Court: Trials
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of crown court cases that have been adjourned in 2022 as a result of a lack of a defence advocate due to no returns protest action by criminal barristers.
tabling member constituency	Croydon North
tabling member printed	Steve Reed
uin	5408
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/05/2022 answer text <p>HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is monitoring the ‘on the day’ impact of the operation of the Criminal Bar Association’s ‘No Returns Protocol’ on the Crown Court. Cases are taken out of the list in advance of the date of hearing for many reasons, including the operation of the No Returns Protocol. The HMCTS ‘on the day’ monitoring does not capture such cases. The table below is drawn from manual returns for each Crown Court for cases affected on the day of hearing itself<strong><sup>5</sup></strong>.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Hearing Date<sup>1</sup> </strong><br> <strong>(week commencing)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Weekly total listed hearings<sup>2</sup></strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total number of hearings disrupted on the day due to having a 'No Return'<sup>3</sup></strong></p></td><td><p><strong>'No returns' as % of weekly average hearings<sup>2,3</sup></strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of trial hearings disrupted on the day due to having a 'No Return'<sup>3,4</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>11/04/2022</p></td><td><p>6,936</p></td><td><p>95</p></td><td><p>1.4%</p></td><td><p>9</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>18/04/2022</p></td><td><p>8,285</p></td><td><p>263</p></td><td><p>3.2%</p></td><td><p>53</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>25/04/2022</p></td><td><p>10,668</p></td><td><p>227</p></td><td><p>2.1%</p></td><td><p>43</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>02/05/2022</p></td><td><p>8,822</p></td><td><p>188</p></td><td><p>2.1%</p></td><td><p>35</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>Footnotes</strong></p><ol><li>Three of the four weeks included a bank holiday. The number of hearings listed in those weeks is therefore lower.</li><li>Each day of a trial is counted separately in the listed hearings total; a trial lasting 2 weeks would appear 10 times in the daily lists and would be counted as 10 hearings.</li><li>Hearings disrupted are those that could not go ahead due to barrister not being present; it excludes hearings that went ahead without the assigned barrister. This data is derived from manual returns from the Crown Courts on the hearings impacted by the No Returns Protocol.</li><li>Each trial disrupted by the operation of the No Returns protocol is counted on the day it is disrupted.</li><li>The figures supplied have been extracted from live case management systems/manual returns and have not been verified to the same standards as National Statistics. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that the data have been extracted from large case management systems/manual returns generated by the courts. Consequently, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when data are used.</li></ol> answering member constituency South Suffolk answering member printed James Cartlidge question first answered 24/05/2022 09:46:14 answering member 4519 label Biography information for James Cartlidge
tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1464434

registered interest
date	19/05/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Criminal Proceedings: Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many criminal legal aid firms have been added to the Legal Aid Agency’s list of providers willing to accept instructions for advocacy services at different locations since 11 April 2022; and what data his Department holds on number of trials in the Crown Court that have been adjourned or postponed due to the unavailability of a defence advocate.
tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull East
tabling member printed	Karl Turner
uin	5390
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/05/2022 answer text <p>At the point the Crown Court Representation Helpline was launched on 20 April, there were 19 contacts registered. The helpline does not require higher court advocates to be registered individually. Therefore, some of the registered contacts may have multiple higher court advocates available to provide advocacy services in the Crown Court. The number of registered contacts is subject to fluctuation.</p><p>The Crown Court Representation Helpline is in place to make the process of identifying higher court advocates easier for providers who may be impacted by barristers declining to accept returns in defence cases as part of national Criminal Bar Association disruptive action. Providers are not limited to instructing higher court advocates registered with the helpline. The <a href="https://publicdefenderservice.org.uk/" target="_blank">Public Defender Service</a> may also be able to provide advocacy support where cases have been impacted by the no returns action.</p><p>The Department publishes data on volumes and the reasons why trials do not go ahead as part of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2021" target="_blank">Criminal court statistics quarterly</a>. The latest statistics cover the period October to December 2021. In line with the timetable for the publication of official statistics into the public domain we are unable to provide data for more recent months at this time.</p> answering member constituency South Suffolk answering member printed James Cartlidge question first answered 25/05/2022 09:39:53 answering member 4519 label Biography information for James Cartlidge
tabling member	4030 label Biography information for Karl Turner

1464461

registered interest
date	19/05/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Family Proceedings: Expert Evidence
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) qualifications and (b) verification a witness must demonstrate to present as an expert witness in the family court.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham West and Penge
tabling member printed	Ellie Reeves
uin	5483
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/05/2022 answer text <p>Section 13 of the Children and Families Act 2014 makes provision in relation to the control of expert evidence in children proceedings. An expert may only be instructed to provide evidence in proceedings relating to children with the permission of the court. This legislation is underpinned by detailed rules of court practice and procedure set out in the Family Procedure Rules 2010 and supporting Practice Directions. Practice Direction 25B includes a duty on experts to comply with specified standards, including evidencing their relevant experience and a requirement to be up-to-date with continuing professional development appropriate to their discipline and expertise. If the expert’s area is regulated by a UK statutory body, they must confirm possession of a current licence to practice or equivalent. If the area is not so regulated, then they must demonstrate appropriate qualifications and/or registration with a relevant professional body.</p><p>The President of the Family Division has published a memorandum on experts in the family court. The memorandum restates the principles applied by the Family Court when it considers whether to authorise or admit expert evidence as well as noting that experts should only be instructed when to do so is ‘necessary’ to assist the court in resolving issues justly. <br> <br>The Family Justice Council has also produced guidelines on the instruction of medical experts from overseas in family cases. This sets out a series of recommendations for the process of instructing an expert and ensuring they have the appropriate experience.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Corby answering member printed Tom Pursglove question first answered 27/05/2022 09:15:57 answering member 4369 label Biography information for Tom Pursglove
tabling member	4620 label Biography information for Ellie Reeves

1464463

registered interest
date	19/05/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Reoffenders
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the re-offending rates were in those (a) that have re-offended after 2 years of release, (b) that have re-offended after 5 years of release, and (c) who have re-offended after 9 years of release the most recent period after January 2010.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham West and Penge
tabling member printed	Ellie Reeves
uin	5484
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/05/2022 answer text <p>The answer can only be provided at disproportionate cost as it would require data matching across separate systems.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 26/05/2022 15:54:12 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
tabling member	4620 label Biography information for Ellie Reeves

1464550

registered interest
date	19/05/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Roads: Accidents
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will take steps to ensure that road crash victims and their families receive adequate compensation and support following a successful defence of automatism.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	5346
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/05/2022 answer text <p>Automatism is a lawful defence in both civil and criminal cases and, where no agreement on liability and compensation for those injured in a road crash can be reached between a claimant and defendant, the courts will decide each case on its merits. Therefore, the Government currently has no plans to make changes in this area.</p> answering member constituency South Suffolk answering member printed James Cartlidge question first answered 26/05/2022 13:18:36 answering member 4519 label Biography information for James Cartlidge
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1464551

registered interest
date	19/05/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Roads: Accidents
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to improve access to justice for road crash victims and their families.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	5347
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/05/2022 answer text <p>In relation to a civil claim for personal injury, Official Injury Claim (OIC), an accessible self-service, online service, was launched in May 2021 in partnership with the Motor Insurers Bureau. This service enables those who suffer injury as a result of a road traffic accident to claim up to £5000 in damages, with or without the need for legal representation.</p><p> </p><p>The service and its accompanying guidance have been carefully designed with the claimant firmly at their heart. A dedicated telephone customer support centre is also available, with trained assistants to guide users through any questions or issues they may have about the process of completing a claim. Since May 2021, around 240,000 claims have been made on the OIC service.</p><p> </p><p>For claims above £5000 the existing Claims Portal should be used. Information about these reforms and the OIC service can be found at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/whiplash-reform-programme-information-and-faq" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/whiplash-reform-programme-information-and-faq</a>.</p> answering member constituency South Suffolk answering member printed James Cartlidge question first answered 27/05/2022 13:13:17 answering member 4519 label Biography information for James Cartlidge
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1464552

registered interest
date	19/05/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Criminal Liability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has plans to reform the use of automatism as a legal defence.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	5348
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/05/2022 answer text <p>The Government has no current plans to bring forward legislative proposals in relation to this defence but it will be kept under review.</p> answering member constituency South Suffolk answering member printed James Cartlidge question first answered 27/05/2022 13:16:11 answering member 4519 label Biography information for James Cartlidge
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

1463985

registered interest
date	18/05/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Charles Falk
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, who instigated the complaint against Judge Charles Falk to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) in April 2022; whether that complaint fell outside of the JCIO's three month limit for investigation of complaints; whether the investigation was carried out by a panel or a single person; how long that investigation took; and whether that investigation included interviews with (a) Judge Charles Falk and (b) any other relevant people involved in the case.
tabling member constituency	Brent North
tabling member printed	Barry Gardiner
uin	4450
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2022 answer text <p>The independent Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) considers complaints in accordance with the Judicial Conduct (Judicial and other office holders) Rules 2014.</p><p>The rules enable the JCIO, with the agreement of a nominated judge, to consider information received in the absence of a complaint as if it were a complaint. That process was duly followed in the matter regarding Judge Falk. After careful assessment by the JCIO, there was no evidence of misconduct by the judge and the matter was dismissed.</p><p>With the exception of published information about disciplinary sanctions, information about judicial disciplinary matters is confidential, and further details cannot therefore be provided.</p> answering member constituency South Suffolk answering member printed James Cartlidge question first answered 23/05/2022 15:08:02 answering member 4519 label Biography information for James Cartlidge
tabling member	146 label Biography information for Barry Gardiner

1464039

registered interest
date	18/05/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Criminal Proceedings: Legal Aid Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many criminal legal aid firms have offered the Legal Aid Agency back-up advocacy from 11 April 2022.
tabling member constituency	Manchester, Gorton
tabling member printed	Afzal Khan
uin	4678
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2022 answer text <p>At the point the Crown Court Representation Helpline was launched on 20 April, there were 19 contacts registered. The helpline does not require higher court advocates to be registered individually. Therefore, some of the registered contacts may have multiple higher court advocates available to provide advocacy services in the Crown Court. The number of registered contacts is subject to fluctuation.</p><p>The Crown Court Representation Helpline is in place to make the process of identifying higher court advocates easier for providers who may be impacted by barristers declining to accept returns in defence cases as part of national Criminal Bar Association disruptive action. Providers are not limited to instructing higher court advocates registered with the helpline. The <a href="https://publicdefenderservice.org.uk/" target="_blank">Public Defender Service</a> may also be able to provide advocacy support where cases have been impacted by the no returns action.</p> answering member constituency South Suffolk answering member printed James Cartlidge question first answered 23/05/2022 15:50:59 answering member 4519 label Biography information for James Cartlidge
tabling member	4671 label Biography information for Afzal Khan

1464040

registered interest
date	18/05/2022
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Crown Court: Trials
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 in the Crown Court since 11 April 2022 had no recorded attendance of a defence advocate.
tabling member constituency	Manchester, Gorton
tabling member printed	Afzal Khan
uin	4679
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2022 answer text <p>HM Courts and Tribunals Service is monitoring the ‘on the day’ impact of the operation of the Criminal Bar Association’s ‘No Returns Protocol’ on the Crown Court. The table below is drawn from manual returns for each Crown Court for cases affected on the day of hearing<strong><sup>5</sup></strong>.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Hearing Date<sup>1</sup>​<br> (week commencing)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Weekly total listed hearings<sup>2</sup></strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total number of hearings disrupted on the day due to having a 'No Return'<sup>3</sup></strong></p></td><td><p><strong>'No returns' as % of weekly average hearings<sup>2,3</sup></strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of trial hearings disrupted on the day due to having a 'No Return'<sup>3,4</sup></strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>11/04/2022​</p></td><td><p>6,936</p></td><td><p>95</p></td><td><p>1.4%</p></td><td><p>9</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>18/04/2022</p></td><td><p>8,285</p></td><td><p>263</p></td><td><p>3.2%</p></td><td><p>53</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>25/04/2022</p></td><td><p>10,668</p></td><td><p>227</p></td><td><p>2.1%</p></td><td><p>43</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>02/05/2022</p></td><td><p>8,822</p></td><td><p>188</p></td><td><p>2.1%</p></td><td><p>35</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>Footnotes</strong></p><p>1 Three of the four weeks included a bank holiday. The number of hearings listed in those weeks is therefore lower.</p><p>2 Each day of a trial is counted separately in the listed hearings total; a trial lasting 2 weeks would appear 10 times in the daily lists and would be counted as 10 hearings.</p><p>3 Hearings disrupted are those that could not go ahead due to barrister not being present; it excludes hearings that went ahead without the assigned barrister. This data is derived from manual returns from the Crown Courts on the hearings impacted by the No Returns Protocol.</p><p>4 Each trial disrupted by the operation of the No Returns protocol is counted on the day it is disrupted.</p><p>5 The figures supplied have been extracted from live case management systems/manual returns and have not been verified to the same standards as National Statistics. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that the data have been extracted from large case management systems/manual returns generated by the courts. Consequently, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when data are used.</p> answering member constituency South Suffolk answering member printed James Cartlidge question first answered 23/05/2022 15:49:43 answering member 4519 label Biography information for James Cartlidge
tabling member	4671 label Biography information for Afzal Khan