Clause 13 - Appeal to Crown Court
Criminal Justice Bill
9:45 pm
Mr David Heath (Somerton and Frome, Liberal Democrat)
My hon. Friend the Member for Southwark, North and Bermondsey and I have subscribed to the amendment, which is entirely sensible. It is not only a matter of inconvenience to the defendant; material loss may be engendered by conditions that will be subject to appeal if the amendment is accepted. A loss of trade or the loss of the ability to carry on a trade may result from those specific requirements. If the Crown court can consider the other spectrum of conditions there is no obvious reason why they should not be extended.
The professional concerns of the hon. Member for Beaconsfield about travelling to Crown courts may be rectified by the attitude of the Lord Chancellor's Department in closing Crown courts and centralising their provisions. In future, there may be far fewer venues requiring the hon. Gentleman's attendance.