Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 4:30 pm on 5 April 2004.

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Photo of Lord Clinton-Davis Lord Clinton-Davis Labour 4:30, 5 April 2004

I am rather unhappy about the possibility of engaging in semantics. Although I have a great deal of sympathy with the argument that the burden of proof should rest on the prosecution, I am very aware of the possibility that it is a very easy burden of proof. After all, the prosecution simply need to prove that the defendant behaved irresponsibly. In other words, we are engaging in an exercise that is not real. In my view it is important that the defendant knows, or should know, what went on and no one can argue against that. When a defendant has wantonly destroyed documents, the burden of showing that he or she behaved reasonably in those circumstances should rest with the defendant.

I am troubled by the whole argument. Perhaps my noble friend will be able to describe more emphatically what has gone on in the mind of the Government in relation to this issue. The noble Lord who introduced the issue has not addressed the problem. It is a very real problem. Therefore, I invite my noble friend to discuss the issue in more depth than we have done so far.