Clause 18 - Conditional cautions
Criminal Justice Bill
11:15 am
Mr Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield, Conservative)
We now continue the theme about the importance of the procedure, in terms of the defendant's full understanding at the police station of the consequences of accepting a conditional caution. The amendments should not be thought of in isolation: they are part of a package of amendments designed to emphasise the importance of the issue. That is particularly so as the person in question may subsequently be prosecuted and the conditional caution used as evidence against them.
The amendments are designed to consider whether an authorised person should be more senior than a constable or an investigating officer. Their other purpose is to ensure that proper decisions are taken in terms of the conditions that are attached. How does the Solicitor-General see the provisions working in practice? Is she satisfied that the level of the authorised person is sufficient for the decisions required under the five requirements of clause 19?