Clause 22
Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill
5:15 pm
David Heath (Shadow Secretary of State for Justice & Lord Chancellor, Ministry of Justice; Somerton and Frome, Liberal Democrat)
As the hon. Gentleman knows, I have not often departed from much of what he has had to say. It seems, however, that his amendments would do the opposite of what he hopes that they would achieve. Do they not reduce the discretion available to the court by inserting a higher figure for the minimum work requirement that the magistrates court can impose? Perhaps I have misread the provisions of the original clause, but that was certainly the impression that I was given.