Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 8:45 pm on 5 March 2008.

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Photo of The Archbishop of York The Archbishop of York Bishop 8:45, 5 March 2008

If I am in a pub and somebody behaves in a threatening manner, and people can testify to that fact, and the criminal law says that you should not behave in that manner in a public place, somebody is committing an offence. The Minister says that these orders are not meant to be punitive, so he is already ducking the question that the purpose of punishment is—in my terms—to elicit penitence. So you are not going to punish anybody; rather, you are saying, "We'll hold you back but the police should not come in because this is a difficult matter". Am I hearing the Minister right? I am not so sure that we want orders. What we actually want is for the criminal law—after all, this is called the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill—to determine whether a crime has been committed. Either a crime has been committed or it has not. If it has not been committed, for heaven's sake what are these orders for?