Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Justice)
Liberal Democrat Peer
My Lords, the success in reducing the number of children in custody has been a great achievement, and we should still be concentrating on further bringing down that number. That success has been largely achieved through the work of the Youth Justice Board, in which my noble friend Lord McNally played a major part during the coalition. We note the commitment to reform of the Youth Justice...
My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Lord, Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield, for his brilliant valedictory speech. He will be greatly missed, both for the warmth of his company and for his combination of erudition and deep understanding, in contributions not only here but to our national debate. He warns us to take care to protect and nourish our constitution—and how right he is. We also enjoyed...
My Lords, despite everything that the Minister has said on proscription of the IRGC, we are now in something of an Alice in Wonderland world. The Prime Minister has told the media in recent days that the Government propose to introduce further legislation to address state threats. Such legislation has been reported by the BBC, among others, as enabling the Government to ban state-related...
My Lords, I repeat and echo all the thanks that my noble friend Lady Brinton has just made to the Minister, her officials and all the others who have helped with this Bill. I was going to say this at the end, but I shall say it now—I am also enormously grateful to and in awe of the work of the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, during the course of this Bill. Her dedication and thoroughness on...
My Lords, regarding Motion A1, moved so ably by my noble friend Lord Clement-Jones, on disincentivising fining for profit and, importantly, ensuring that contractors found to be profiteering from fixed penalty notices may risk losing their contracts, I have nothing to add to what he said. On Motions C and C1, to which my noble friend Lady Doocey spoke, it is encouraging that she has accepted...
My Lords, I entirely accept the point made by the noble Lord on the Woolsack about the inadequacy of an apology for late arrival in the Chamber, and I am bound to say it is not something I have ever had to make before, but I was late into the Chamber today and I apologise to the House, after others, that I was late for the start of this group. I will speak briefly, if the House permits. The...
My Lords, I hope I will be permitted to speak briefly. I have followed the arguments on all these matters throughout these proceedings.
My Lords, on that basis, unless I am stopped, I will speak briefly. On the first Motion I was going to address, that of the noble Lord, Lord Walney, we have a great deal of sympathy for his proposal. Indeed, we would go so far as to say that it seems like a good idea. Its principal appeal is that it would permit a step falling short of proscription of an organisation, which would not involve...
More of Lord Marks of Henley-on-Thames's speeches and debates
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prisoners in England and Wales who had been released after serving a prison sentence of less than a year went on to re-offend in each of the last five years.
To ask Her Majesty's Government, of those in prison in England and Wales on 25 December 2016, how many were serving sentences of less than a year.
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prisoners currently in prison in England and Wales are serving sentences of a year or less; and of these, how many prisoners are expected to still be serving their sentence on 25 December.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of litigants in person on the court system.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the increasing numbers of litigants in person since the reforms contained in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 came into effect.
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to launch a post-implementation consultation on the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.
Her Majesty's Government how many (1) legally qualified staff, and (2) staff without legal qualifications, now working in the Department for Exiting the European Union (a) have been transferred from, or (b) are on secondment from, the Ministry of Justice.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many female prisoners have been placed on 24-hour watch on at least one occasion in each women’s prison in each of the last 12 months.
