Policing and Crime Bill
5:30 pm
Paul Evans: The human rights aspects that were tested in a variety of cases, including the case of Walsh, have been settled. However, nothing is ever really settled. That issue is not causing us delay or trouble regarding the challenges made on these grounds in litigation that is before court or about to go to court. Therefore, it is not addressed in these clauses. However, the complexity that we face with civil litigation based on criminal lifestyle can often create a burden in a case that takes significant time and effort to resolve. If we are to be fair in trying to produce this litigation—civil recovery is essentially litigation, not accusation—we need to be thorough and fair. For that reason, some of these cases are enormously complex with vast amounts of documented material. It is that, rather than anything in the Human Rights Act 1998, that sometimes causes delay and leads to complexity.