Clause 28 - Defence disclosure
Criminal Justice Bill
3:45 pm
Mr Hilary Benn (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; Leeds Central, Labour)
I am not arguing with the suggestion that it would be helpful to do that where appropriate. That is not meant to be a flippant answer. I am simply saying that it is inappropriate, given the amount of information that the prosecution already disclose, to impose a requirement in every case. I think that my hon. Friend accepts that that would be the unintended consequence. The purpose of defence statements is to assist the process of prosecution disclosure. As my hon. Friend identified, the to and fro of information may bring to light facts that lead to the prosecution being discontinued, so the process is helpful in avoiding unnecessary trials. Furthermore, as we have discussed, such statements are intended to clarify the issues.
The reason behind all the proposed changes is that current legislation is not working as Parliament intended, and Sir Robin Auld carefully and thoroughly identified that problem in his report. The independent research commissioned by the Home Office found that 52 per cent. of a sample of 115 defence statements contained a bare denial of guilt—''I did not do it''—or did not meet the requirements of section 5 of the 1996 Act. The greater detail required of the defence under clause 28 and related clauses will give effect to the spirit and, indeed, the letter of the original legislation. It will add to the obligations on disclosure.