Clause 38 - Extent
Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill [Lords]
9:45 am
Mr Paul Goggins (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; Wythenshawe and Sale East, Labour)
The aim of the new clause is to arm the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority with powers to recover from offenders the money that it has paid in compensation to their victims under the criminal injuries compensation scheme. The new clause would do that by inserting four new sections into the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 1995, which paved the way to the introduction in 1996 of the present, tariff-based compensation scheme.
The proposal to give the CICA a right to recover money from offenders was one of several set out in the consultation paper ''Compensation and Support for Victims of Crime'', which was issued on 12 January this year. More than 30 respondents commented on the proposal, the overwhelming majority in favour of it. In the light of that strong support, we decided to give effect to the proposal as soon as possible. We aim to make offenders liable to reimburse the CICA for any money paid out to their victims, and the CICA would be able to pursue the offenders through the civil courts for that money.
I will summarise briefly the proposed arrangements. New sections 7A to 7D would be inserted after section 7 of the 1995 Act. They set out that
''The Secretary of State may, by regulations . . . make provision for the recovery of . . . an amount''
from an offender
''equal to all or part of the compensation paid''
to a victim
''in respect of a criminal injury.''
They make it clear that recovery would be possible only when the offender had been convicted of the relevant offence in a criminal court. Such a conviction would establish that the offender was indeed guilty of the offence that led to the victim's injury, which would obviate the need for the CICA to establish guilt in the civil courts.
The proposed arrangements would require the CICA to serve a recovery notice on the offender which would set out: first, the amount of liability; secondly, the reasons for the determination and the basis on which it has been made; thirdly, how the money must be repaid; and fourthly, how the alleged offender can object, if he contests either the amount recoverable or that he is the person from whom it should be recovered.