Results 1-20 of 2,672 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Bridget Prentice

Oral Answers to Questions — Justice: Debt Management (10 Nov 2009) has video

Bridget Prentice: Helping those in financial difficulties is an important part of our purpose. Of course, that has to be balanced against creditors' right to recover their debts. In September this year, we published the consultation paper "Debt Management Schemes—delivering effective and balanced solutions for debtors and creditors", which seeks views on whether there is a need to intervene further in...

Oral Answers to Questions — Justice: Debt Management (10 Nov 2009) has video

Bridget Prentice: My hon. Friend makes an important point. One of the strands of the review is to look at the behaviour of creditors who continue to add interest to debts where there is already a debt management plan. She is right to raise the concerns of NACAB and others, and we will listen carefully to what they say. I hope that she and anyone else in the House who has such examples will bring them forward...

Oral Answers to Questions — Justice: Debt Management (10 Nov 2009) has video

Bridget Prentice: Again, I endorse what my hon. Friend says. All those issues will be part of the review, and I hope that it will come up with some solutions and a way forward in the near future.

Oral Answers to Questions — Justice: Criminal Trial Acquittals (Costs) (10 Nov 2009) has video

Bridget Prentice: Defendants who are acquitted in criminal trials should normally receive their reasonable costs from central funds unless the court decides that it is not appropriate to award those costs. Overall, central funds expenditure was £62 million in 2007-08 and £77 million in 2008-09. On current indications, I have no reason to believe that it will not increase during 2009-10.

Oral Answers to Questions — Justice: Criminal Trial Acquittals (Costs) (10 Nov 2009) has video

Bridget Prentice: Yes, that is the case, but it is of course up to the court to decide whether the award of costs is appropriate.

Oral Answers to Questions — Justice: Criminal Trial Acquittals (Costs) (10 Nov 2009) has video

Bridget Prentice: Where the hon. Lady is mistaken is in her understanding of the system. First, it is essential that we target our resources effectively. Secondly, what will be paid from central funds is costs at the same level as legal aid costs. If people wish to pay more than that, that is entirely up them and it is a choice that they make. They will be paid from central funds costs equivalent to legal aid,...

Oral Answers to Questions — Justice: Criminal Trial Acquittals (Costs) (10 Nov 2009) has video

Bridget Prentice: I congratulate the hon. Lady on her rise to Parliament. I hope that she will attend Justice questions regularly. I refer her to the answer that I gave a short time ago: defendants who are acquitted in criminal trials should normally receive their reasonable costs, unless the court decides otherwise.

Oral Answers to Questions — Justice: Criminal Trial Acquittals (Costs) (10 Nov 2009) has video

Bridget Prentice: As I have said, it is essential that we target our resources effectively. Costs are available to defendants in criminal cases in the Crown court where they have been acquitted, but those costs are staged at the level of legal aid costs. In other words, they should get the same as they should get had they been legally aided.

Oral Answers to Questions — Justice: Criminal Trial Acquittals (Costs) (10 Nov 2009) has video

Bridget Prentice: Of course they are not legally aided—that is the point—but the level of costs that they will get back from the taxpayer from central funds will be the same as if they had been legally aided. That is fair both to them and to legally aided defendants.

Oral Answers to Questions — Justice: Topical Questions (10 Nov 2009) has video

Bridget Prentice: I will take great pleasure in giving that kick to those authorities. My hon. Friend has campaigned long and hard on that issue, and he is absolutely right. We have sent out guidance on at least two occasions, and if necessary we will do so again and hope that, this time, they pay some attention.

Perpetuities and Accumulations Bill [ Lords] (2 Nov 2009) has video

Bridget Prentice: I thank the hon. Members for North-West Norfolk (Mr. Bellingham) and for Cambridge (David Howarth) for their support for the Bill both on the Floor of the House and in Committee. In particular, I thank the hon. Member for Cambridge, who succinctly put to bed—I hope—some concerns that the hon. Member for North-West Norfolk had. Indeed, if we live more than 125 years—God...

Perpetuities and Accumulations Bill [ Lords] (2 Nov 2009) has video

Bridget Prentice: I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time. It is a pleasure to be here to guide the Perpetuities and Accumulations Bill through its final stage in the House. It is a good example of the valuable expert work that the Law Commission has done to simplify the law, particularly in those areas that are difficult and truly lawyers' law. I want to take this opportunity to thank the...

English Libel Law (Parliamentary Proceedings) — [Mr. Roger Gale in the Chair] (21 Oct 2009)

Bridget Prentice: I will do my best to be robust and brave, but I accept the view of the hon. Member for North-West Norfolk (Mr. Bellingham) that I will not be able to solve the libel laws in the next 10 minutes. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice is very much a parliamentarian—a parliamentary figure—and he will take on board every single issue that hon. Members have raised...

English Libel Law (Parliamentary Proceedings) — [Mr. Roger Gale in the Chair] (21 Oct 2009)

Bridget Prentice: I was just about to come to article 9 of the Bill of Rights. I am astonished that lawyers around the country are not aware that there is a difference between article 9 and the European convention, and so on. However, perhaps this will be an opportunity for them to be educated in that respect. Article 9 makes it clear that parliamentary questions, both oral and written, are proceedings in...

English Libel Law (Parliamentary Proceedings) — [Mr. Roger Gale in the Chair] (21 Oct 2009)

Bridget Prentice: It is most certainly my view that the advice given by both—no doubt eminent—lawyers was incorrect. I am happy to ensure that we send them a copy of article 9, so that they can read and peruse it at their leisure.

English Libel Law (Parliamentary Proceedings) — [Mr. Roger Gale in the Chair] (21 Oct 2009)

Bridget Prentice: I am going to come to some of the things that need to happen in future. The sub judice rule is an expression of the ability of the House to restrain Members who, in exercising the absolute privilege of freedom of speech, might offend the House. It also protects the administration of justice, so that, while the courts cannot restrain parliamentary debate, Parliament in turn refrains from...

Clause 2 — Protocol about the Law Commission's work (16 Oct 2009) has video

Bridget Prentice: I should like to add my congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry) on getting her Bill to this stage. I hope that, within the next few minutes, it will receive its Third Reading. These are important issues. As the hon. Member for Cambridge (David Howarth) said, they might look technical, but they will have a real effect on our...

Clause 2 — Protocol about the Law Commission's work (16 Oct 2009) has video

Bridget Prentice: I will certainly raise it with the Minister within whose portfolio the Law Commission sits, and I will ensure that either he or I write to hon. Members or put in the Library a response to the question that the hon. Gentleman rightly asks. We see the Bill as a key mechanism for delivering higher implementation rates of Law Commission reports, which will benefit both law reform and the...

Clause 1 — Reports on implemenation of Law Commission proposals (16 Oct 2009) has video

Bridget Prentice: In support of my hon. Friend's attempt to persuade Opposition Members to withdraw their amendments, I have a couple of points to make. First, the hon. Member for Christchurch (Mr. Chope) has talked, in this debate and in a previous one, about Government time in the other place. The other place does not work in quite the same way as we do, and I would not want anyone to think that we can...

Clause 4 — Commencement and retrospective effect (16 Oct 2009) has video

Bridget Prentice: I begin by offering my condolences—and, I am sure, those of the whole House—to the family of the constituent of the hon. Member for Rochdale (Paul Rowen) who sadly died of mesothelioma yesterday. Later in my speech, I hope to say something that might be of some comfort—if not to that family at least to other victims of mesothelioma, which is a dreadful, horrendously painful...