Clause 28 - Defendant convicted or committed
Proceeds of Crime Bill
6:00 pm
Mr Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield, Conservative)
Yes, it does. I must tell the Minister that one does not want to make lengthy points on clauses that not only appear to be innocuous but on which there is likely to be agreement. Nevertheless, although it is easy to tick off clauses because they look all right in the generality, it is often those clauses that later cause so much trouble. I am simply trying to do my job properly.
Clause 28 deals with defendants who are convicted or committed who have absconded. Subsection (2) sets out the circumstances in which the defendant is convicted or committed. Subsection (3) states:
``The second condition is that—
(a) the prosecutor or the Director applies to the Crown Court to proceed under this section, and
(b) the court believes it is appropriate for it to do so.''
I hope that the Minister will forgive me for saying so, but in my career at the Bar I have discovered that the word that features most frequently in a barrister's vocabulary is ``appropriate''. Indeed, to such an extent is that so that I have known wagers to be taken between barristers—first, on who will be the first to use the word ``appropriate'' or sometimes the word ``inappropriate'', and secondly on whether a barrister can get through a speech or submission without using either of those words.