Results 1-20 of 5,028 for in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates' speaker:Dominic Grieve

Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General: Social Media (Abusive Communications) (4 June 2013)

Dominic Grieve: I have held discussions with the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to the CPS public consultation on the interim guidelines on prosecuting cases involving communications sent via social media. The public consultation closed on 13 March 2013 and the final guidelines will be published shortly. I would like to emphasise that libel itself is not a criminal matter unless it is grossly...

Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General: Social Media (Abusive Communications) (4 June 2013)

Dominic Grieve: I am troubled to hear my hon. Friend’s story. Obviously, it is impossible for me to comment on an individual case. What is clear is that the interim guidelines, already in existence, provide, particularly under the Malicious Communications Act 1988, clear grounds on which such a message could be prosecuted because it is offensive, shocking or disturbing and harasses the person who...

Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General: Social Media (Abusive Communications) (4 June 2013)

Dominic Grieve: First, I advise any Minister, Cabinet Committee or, indeed, taskforce if that advice is required. Secondly, as I suspect the right hon. Gentleman knows, I have had quite a lot of involvement in considerations of whether contempt of court, for example, is taking place, or whether issues may arise in respect of misuse of the internet. I can be in a position to help my colleagues in Government...

Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General: Social Media (Abusive Communications) (4 June 2013)

Dominic Grieve: Yes. Although the final guidelines will, I hope, be useful, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the interim guidelines published by the DPP. Those make it clear that there is a distinction that one should try to draw between such material. It may be, for example, “Satirical, or iconoclastic, or rude comment” or “the expression of unpopular or unfashionable opinion” where no...

Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General: Serious Fraud Office (4 June 2013)

Dominic Grieve: The 2015-16 spending round is in progress. I wrote to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury in April and discussions are continuing. The SFO’s funding settlement for 2015-16 is on track to be agreed by 26 June.

Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General: Serious Fraud Office (4 June 2013)

Dominic Grieve: The Government have made it clear that the director of the SFO should never have to turn down a case on the basis of cost. Any allegations of the type described, if brought to the SFO’s attention, are assessed within the context of its remit to investigate fraud, bribery and corruption. If there were a need for further resources outside the envelope in which the SFO is currently...

Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General: Serious Fraud Office (4 June 2013)

Dominic Grieve: My hon. Friend raises an important issue, but ultimately it is rather outside my remit. There are circumstances in which compensation can be paid to victims of crime, including from assets that may have been recovered. The Crown Prosecution Service and the SFO will operate according to the rules that are laid down.

Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General: Serious Fraud Office (4 June 2013)

Dominic Grieve: If I may say first, there is no question, as far as I am concerned, of the Bribery Act being watered down. It is true that the interpretation of the Act has at times given rise to difficulties, including unnecessary ones for businesses in understanding what it requires of them, so an educational process may be required. On changing the rules on criminal liability, I am the first to recognise...

Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General: Serious Fraud Office (4 June 2013)

Dominic Grieve: I think there is widespread recognition that smaller fraud, which falls outside the SFO’s remit entirely, has long been a Cinderella area for law enforcement. The economic crime command was set up in the National Crime Agency precisely to try to ensure that smaller fraud is dealt with better at a regional policing level and in order to put in place structures to enable that to happen...

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill: New Clause 15 — Marriages according to usages of approved organisations (21 May 2013)

Dominic Grieve: Let me make it quite that it has to be a belief organisation because unless there are some grounds for belief, I assume that there is no reason for carrying out a ceremony. I am sorry if my point sounded flippant, because it was not intended to be. My point was that belief organisations can be very wide in their scope and are certainly not confined to humanism.

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill: New Clause 15 — Marriages according to usages of approved organisations (21 May 2013)

Dominic Grieve: I will say this one last time. It has nothing to do with the merits or otherwise of wanting to extend marriage to humanist or secular groups. The way the amendment has been drafted confined it to groups promoting humanism, but there are many other secular groups. The local tiddlywinks club might wish to become a registered charity and to conduct weddings, so by its very nature, and for that...

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill: New Clause 15 — Marriages according to usages of approved organisations (21 May 2013)

Dominic Grieve: rose—

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill: New Clause 15 — Marriages according to usages of approved organisations (21 May 2013)

Dominic Grieve: I hope the hon. Lady will accept that I make my comments in a completely neutral way and that I appreciate what she is trying to achieve, but I have absolutely no doubt that the new clause, if passed, would render the Bill incompatible with the provisions of the European convention on human rights, because it identifies a group that is not a religious group and gives it a special status. The...

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill: New Clause 15 — Marriages according to usages of approved organisations (21 May 2013)

Dominic Grieve: I do my best to provide advice on the law of England and Wales—Scottish law is unquestionably different historically—but, according to my limited understanding of the position, in Scotland it is not just humanists who may be registered for this purpose; pagans and all sorts of other groups may also qualify. I simply make the point that the context of the Bill as drafted and as...

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill: New Clause 15 — Marriages according to usages of approved organisations (21 May 2013)

Dominic Grieve: rose—

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill: New Clause 15 — Marriages according to usages of approved organisations (21 May 2013)

Dominic Grieve: The last thing that I want to do is interrupt the hon. Lady’s flow, but I want to reply very briefly to what was just said. I am not suggesting in any way that what is happening in Scotland is unlawful. Instead, I am highlighting that there is a serious defect in the amendment. Given the discriminatory nature of the favour it gives to humanists as opposed to other secular organisations,...

Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General: Rule of Law (26 March 2013)

Dominic Grieve: I have not received any recent representations on this subject, but I am clear that the United Kingdom’s enviable reputation for upholding the rule of law is closely linked to our country’s commitment to the European convention on human rights and to ensuring that those rights are enshrined in our own laws.

Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General: Rule of Law (26 March 2013)

Dominic Grieve: I have noticed, on occasion, irritation in all parts of the House about the operation of the European convention on human rights, but the Government’s position remains clear: our adherence to the convention is in the national interest.

Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General: Rule of Law (26 March 2013)

Dominic Grieve: My hon. Friend is right to say that the United Kingdom has not been uncritical of the way in which the European Court of Human Rights has operated. That is why we initiated the negotiation with other countries which led to the Brighton declaration. We believe that the principles of subsidiarity should be re-emphasised, that the selection of judges should be improved and that the backlog of...

Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General: Rule of Law (26 March 2013)

Dominic Grieve: The convention is an international legal obligation that we take extremely seriously and I have no doubt that our adherence to it is extremely helpful in raising standards of human rights elsewhere and in countries that have much poorer track records. The advantages to be derived from such an international legal obligation applied across countries need to be weighed in the balance when people...