Further written evidence to be reported to the House
Counter-Terrorism Bill
12:00 pm
Tony McNulty (Minister of State (Security, Counter-terrorism, Crime and Policing), Home Office; Harrow East, Labour)
Yes, at this point, and perhaps if we come back to that we will get some answers.
I want to touch on the international comparisons. You made great play—quite rightly—of how special the notion of charge is in UK jurisdiction. However, whoever has done your international research has used that charge equivalent in the most erroneous fashion possible, producing research that bears no scrutiny at all. If you look even at Justice’s summary of the Kercher case in Italy, you do not see anywhere in their deliberations—in paragraph 58 of the document that they presented to us on Tuesday—the definition of charge as you describe it in paragraph 9 of your document:
“Before charge a person is not formally accused of any criminal offence.”
The three defendants in the Kercher case have not been accused of or charged with anything yet, but they have been in custody for six months. Do you stand by your pretty little graph—however misleading—of international comparisons?