Proceeds of Crime Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 5:32 pm on 25 June 2002.

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Photo of Lord Goodhart Lord Goodhart Liberal Democrat 5:32, 25 June 2002

My Lords, this is a short point. The Bill gives power to postpone proceedings for a confiscation order for up to two years, and indeed in exceptional cases for longer. The Government also allow the court to defer sentence until the end of the period of postponement. I believe that defendants remanded in custody are entitled to know what sentence they are going to get within a reasonable time of the conviction. It would certainly be wholly wrong to delay the sentence for two years or more.

We therefore believe that the Bill should contain a cut-off point for sentencing in cases where the defendant is imprisoned. What we have suggested in this amendment is a period of two months with power to delay further in exceptional cases. If the Government were prepared to accept a cut-off after a period of more than two months, I think that we would be content with that if it was a reasonable period. But it is plain, frankly, that we should not leave the defendant hanging around awaiting sentence for two years. That would, in the American phrase, be a cruel and unusual form of punishment.

If the defendant is being unco-operative about disclosing his or her assets, which may be part of the reasoning for postponing sentence, I should expect that the defendant would be punished by imposing a longer sentence. That is the way to deal with the matter. I believe that a delay of two years in sentencing is not justified. I beg to move.