Clause 30 - Authorities within Commissioner's remit
Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill [Lords]
10:30 am
Lady Lady Hermon (North Down, UUP)
Will the Minister clarify the impact of his amendments Nos. 91 and 90? The jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defence Police is obviously limited to England and Wales. However, I remind him that in my wonderful constituency of North Down I have the Palace barracks at Hollywood. A serious issue arose when two outstanding Scottish arrest warrants were issued for a Scottish soldier, so the Ministry of Defence police were involved. The warrants were not served on the soldier punctually while he was serving in Northern Ireland, following which, while he was driving a car, a constituent of mine died. Her parents are obviously victims and continue to suffer. They have not received a decent, honourable response from the Ministry of Defence. That complicated real-life scenario unfortunately involved the death of a young constituent. Why should the Ministry of Defence police not come within the remit of the commissioner in relation to victims and witnesses? The soldier was serving in a barracks in my constituency.