Results 1-20 of 90 for lord thomas of gresford

Coroners and Justice Bill: Commons Reasons and Amendments (11 Nov 2009) See 8 other results from this debate

Lord Thomas of Gresford: My Lords, I am most grateful to the Minister. In my view, the amendment is wider than the Government's proposal, not narrower. One only has to state the proposition which the Minister advanced—that a person could rely on a defence of provocation because he was embarrassed by sexual infidelity—to see what nonsense that is. Of course there is the question of punishing someone and of...

Policing and Crime Bill: Report (2nd Day) (5 Nov 2009) See 12 other results from this debate

Baroness Neville-Jones: My Lords, I can be brief. The noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, has spoken at length on this issue. The unease that we have on these Benches is something I outlined in the discussion of the previous amendment; namely, that the role of the courts is greatly limited when there is an extradition hearing in relation to requests from designated category 2 countries. The judge is not permitted...

Coroners and Justice Bill: Third Reading (5 Nov 2009) See 9 other results from this debate

Lord Thomas of Gresford: My Lords, I thank the Minister and the Government for the amendment. Many organisations have pressed for this change, which protects people from having to disclose the most intimate details of the cause of death of a relative to people who really should not know, and I am very grateful that this step has been taken. Amendment 32 agreed. Amendments 33 to 35 Moved by Lord Tunnicliffe 33:...

Prisons: Garth — Question (4 Nov 2009)

Lord Thomas of Gresford: My Lords, instead of asking questions of the Opposition, does the Minister recall that the Chief Inspector of Prisons said that it was a serious and potentially risky development at Garth prison that there was a logjam of prisoners serving indefinite sentences for public protection? That logjam has not been broken but simply transferred from local prisons to Garth. There are some 200 young...

Policing and Crime Bill — Report (1st Day) (Continued) (3 Nov 2009) See 4 other results from this debate

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: My Lords, as you will see, I rise to reply to the amendments on behalf of the Government. I say to all noble Lords who have contributed that the debate has done the House justice on this very important amendment. Noble Lords will not be surprised that I agree, without reservation, with all of those who support the Government's case—the noble Lords, Lord McColl and Lord Morrow, the most...

Coroners and Justice Bill: Report (4th Day) (29 Oct 2009)

Lord Thomas of Gresford: My Lords, I am most grateful to the Minister for the course that he has taken. We have shared the concerns to which he referred and consider that the proposals as currently drafted are wide and could capture areas which the Government would not wish to. The noble and learned Lord, Lord Woolf, has taken a leading part in dealing with this matter and I hope that when we see the redrawn clauses...

Coroners and Justice Bill: Report (3rd Day) (Continued) (28 Oct 2009) See 6 other results from this debate

Lord Thomas of Gresford: My Lords, the purpose of the amendments in this group is to insert in Schedule 16 the proviso that the section does not apply if the defendant can show that his or her conviction was imposed outside England and Wales and resulted from a trial that would have, if the trial had taken place in England and Wales, breached Article 6 of the convention rights within the meaning of the Human Rights...

Coroners and Justice Bill: Report (3rd Day) (28 Oct 2009) See 17 other results from this debate

Lord Thomas of Gresford: My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Bach, in a letter to Lord Kingsland on 8 July gave some idea of the Government's intention with this proposal. He said that, "the intention of guidelines is to produce starting points from which sentencers can then consider the individual factors of the case rather than provide the appropriate final sentence after those factors are considered". That has to be...

Coroners and Justice Bill: Report (2nd Day) (Continued) (26 Oct 2009) See 2 other results from this debate

Lord Thomas of Gresford: My Lords, the Minister seems to suggest that we are living in the past. That is not true. We say that the standard should be set by a jury, which must be under the age of 65; from our contemporary society; represents a cross-section of the community; understands the people in front of it; and can weigh these issues up in a way that we cannot in the House of Lords on 26 October. We cannot...

Coroners and Justice Bill: Report (2nd Day) (26 Oct 2009) See 10 other results from this debate

Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, I suppose that I should be grateful to the noble and learned Lord for saying that the amendment is good as far as it goes, but I know him well enough to know that that is a compliment. He said that I was in a conundrum. I do not want to be quixotically chivalrous but I think that, were I to look, as he advised me earlier, in the Oxford English Dictionary, I would find that he meant...

Commonwealth: Privy Council — Question (26 Oct 2009)

Lord Thomas of Gresford: I declare an interest as a practitioner on the Judicial Committee and, indeed, as having had the privilege in July last of appearing in the final case to be heard in Downing Street after 170 years. Does the Minister agree that the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council has for more than 100 years protected the people of colonial countries and former colonies and that in particular it has...

Coroners and Justice Bill: Report (1st Day) (Continued) (21 Oct 2009) See 6 other results from this debate

Lord Thomas of Gresford: My Lords, I wholly support this series of amendments. I find it quite extraordinary that the coroners service should be outside the Courts Service. I have previously told your Lordships that I spent part of my youth in a coroner's office, where I was articled, and that my principal was the coroner for Denbighshire. He sat on the Gresford colliery disaster inquest, which is probably one of the...

Coroners and Justice Bill: Report (1st Day) (21 Oct 2009) See 12 other results from this debate

Lord Thomas of Gresford: My Lords, we were somewhat surprised that the definition of active service was taken from the definition of desertion in Section 8 of the Armed Forces Act 2006, which we debated at length in this House. One might say that the Government have shot themselves in the foot over that one. Accordingly, the amendments proposed by the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Craig, are fully deserving of support...

Written Answers — House of Lords: Death Certificates (21 Oct 2009)

Lord Thomas of Gresford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what forecast has been made of the cost of introducing short death certificates, as proposed in the 2002 report Civil Registration, Vital Change.

Written Answers — House of Lords: Death Certificates (21 Oct 2009)

Lord Thomas of Gresford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what information technology changes would be required to facilitate the introduction of short death certificates.

Policing and Crime Bill: Committee (5th Day) (20 Oct 2009) See 14 other results from this debate

Lord Thomas of Gresford: My Lords, I am not so much concerned about the Treasury's expenditure; I am much more concerned with the justice and liberty case. The noble and learned Baroness says that the initial hearing is often very short. It may be short in court, but there is frequently a period when advice has to be given, instructions have to be taken, and it is important that the person be there for those...

Assisted Suicide: House of Lords Judgment — Question (20 Oct 2009)

Lord Thomas of Gresford: My Lords, the Minister knows that the Director of Public Prosecutions has to consent to a prosecution. Can he give the House an assurance that the Director of Public Prosecutions will take personal decisions in the exercise of his discretion and will personally deal with these matters? Looking at the document that has been produced, the handling arrangements within it suggest that the head of...

Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (Youth Conditional Cautions: Code of Practice) Order 2009: Motion to Approve (15 Oct 2009) See 4 other results from this debate

Lord Thomas of Gresford: My Lords, I, too, thank the Minister for his statement in support of these orders. In 2003, we on these Benches welcomed the introduction of the conditional caution, which at the time could contain conditions relating to rehabilitation and reparation. My noble friend Lord Dholakia spoke in favour of it at the time. However, in 2006, we opposed the introduction of conditions that were...

Libya — Statement (12 Oct 2009) See 1 other result from this debate

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: My Lords, as I mentioned at Questions, I disclose my professional interest in having acted as co-counsel in the claim by Mr Megrahi to the European Court of Human Rights, which got nowhere. Since then I have had no professional interest in the case. However, in the work that I did on it, which lasted several weeks, I went through the whole of the transcripts and read the appellate judgment,...

Libya: Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi — Question (12 Oct 2009) See 2 other results from this debate

Lord Thomas of Gresford: My Lords, would the Government—