Clause 7 - Codes of practice
Criminal Justice Bill
4:45 pm
Mr Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield, Conservative)
If the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) has not cottoned on by now to my interest in the matter as a member of the Bar, there can be no help for him, as far as I can see. However, I declared an interest on Second Reading. I rather took it to be a blanket declaration that might stand the test of time in Committee. I do not wish to labour the point with the Minister, but the Bar Council and the Law Society are rightly concerned that they should be part of the consultation process.
The Law Society has to help in the administration of PACE and the Bar Council must pick up the pieces when the case goes to court.
If the Minister introduces the new system, it will be in his interest, and that of the Government and the good working of the justice system, to ensure also that the groups in question are in the list of people to be consulted. That is irrespective of whether there will be affirmative resolutions, and all the other matters that we have discussed. I hope that he will feel able to make a positive response. If such groups are included in the list, it will provide an assurance that the consultation will go a little bit wider than merely the police. Just as the Bar Council and the Law Society represent interest groups, so ultimately do the police. We hope that they also represent the wider community in exactly the same way as the other bodies do.
There is something slightly one-sided about the wording of the revised section 67(4) of the 1984 Act. I note that the Secretary of State may consult with
''such other persons as he thinks fit.''
However, I am bound to say that a Home Secretary who introduced a change—even a minor one—without consulting the Law Society and the General Council of the Bar would be extremely stupid. Might it not then be advantageous to include those bodies in the Bill? The point is simple, and the Minister could respond to it generously, in a way that would send out a good signal of the Government's intentions. I cannot think of a circumstance in which those two groups would not have to be included in the consultation. If I were to push as far as I could, I would say that solicitors would have to be, because they are present at police stations when the codes are implemented. The Minister could leave out the Bar if he wanted to, but he might regret it.