Clause 20 - Injunctions in local authority proceedings: power of arrest and remand
Police and Justice Bill
3:00 pm
Hazel Blears (Minister of State (Policing, Security and Community Safety), Home Office; Salford, Labour)
I did not think that in opposing the hon. Gentleman’s amendments I should find myself quite such a defender of the legal system, but clearly I shall be, yet again.
The amendments would tie the hands of judges, so that they would not be able to use their discretion based on the facts of individual cases to decide whether a suspect should be remanded in custody or released on bail. It is entirely proper that the judge should be able to look at the circumstances in which an injunction is sought. There may be insulting and abusive behaviour that causes distress, or violence may indeed be involved—sometimes disputes can have that element. It is right that the judge, having heard the facts, should have discretion as to whether somebody should be released on bail or remanded in custody.
Some of the circumstances in which injunctive remedies need to be sought can be extremely challenging, to say the least. Therefore, I do not think that it is right to have a rigid position that someone has to be released on bail in every single case. That person could then go out and repeat exactly the behaviour for which they were brought before the court on injunction in the first place. On that basis, I ask the hon. Gentleman not to press his amendment. The courts are perfectly able to determine which cases are appropriate for custody.
The hon. Gentleman’s second amendment would remove from the courts the power to adjourn a hearing for more than four weeks should a medical report have been requested. There is a similar provision in the Housing Act 1996, and we want to bring local authority injunctions under section 222 of the Local Government Act 1972, in line with that. Again, we should not take a rigid approach. We should ensure that sufficient time is allowed for the preparation of reports—if a medical report cannot be produced in four weeks, the court will probably have to decide the case without it. However, if mental health problems are a factor, the details should properly be before the court when it decides whether to make an injunction. The hon. Gentleman’s amendments unreasonably restrict the ability of the court to make a proper decision in such cases, so I ask him to withdraw them and to place a little more faith in the legal system.