Clause 62 - Cases that may be retried
Criminal Justice Bill
3:30 pm
Mr Simon Hughes (North Southwark and Bermondsey, Liberal Democrat)
It might not be for a long time. There is a serious chance that somebody will be charged and tried for an offence, whatever it may be, that they may not have committed. They think, however, that they will be stitched up. People are stitched up; they have always been. Our criminal
justice system may be very good, but it is not perfect. It may be one of the best systems in the world or it may not. There have been sufficient miscarriages of justice—the hon. Gentleman must know that as well as I do—when evidence has been contrived, when the police have made claims that have clearly not been true and have invented evidence. We must build in all the precautions that we can. We must minimise the chance of that happening.
The last point is that the Home Secretary and other Ministers have certified that this legislation complies with the European convention on human rights. It is still mainly in force; only one part has been derogated from and I hope no more will be derogated from. Significant numbers of people think that either article 6 or article 7 might be breached by a provision such as this. I have a neutral view. Others think that that is an issue. I think that we should weigh it in the balance.
My judgment is that, although the Select Committee on Home Affairs and others have suggested that it could be retrospective, the proposal would be far more widely acceptable if it were limited to the few most serious offences and not retrospective. My hon. Friend the Member for Somerton and Frome and I will therefore vote in favour of the amendment to register the fact that we believe that that will be a better way forward.