Baroness Tonge: My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply and I commend the Government on their efforts over the past year. I also particularly commend the work of Keir Starmer, the previous Director of Public Prosecutions. Does the Minister realise that it is now more than 10 years since the all-party parliamentary group that I chair produced a report on female genital mutilation, but that during that...
Elfyn Llwyd: ...to Women’s Aid, in the five years up to 2011 only 6.5% of domestic violence incidents reported to the police resulted in a conviction. Every week, two women are killed by a partner or ex-partner. Keir Starmer, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, has said that each domestic violence homicide costs the state £1.3 million, quite apart from the obvious personal and family suffering....
Baroness Jay of Paddington: ...about their current position on this very difficult and sensitive area of criminal law. This debate is extremely timely. It is exactly four years since the then Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, issued his policy for prosecutors in cases of encouraging or assisting suicide. At the moment, the Supreme Court is considering two cases which challenge those guidelines. Nine...
Keith Vaz: ...—we need an explanation about why there have been so many years without a prosecution—and the CPS, because these matters go to the CPS. We have had an enlightened DPP in the past few years in Keir Starmer, who made some useful statements about the issue, but unfortunately no one was prosecuted while he was DPP. The inquiry will hear from Alison Saunders, the new DPP. The National...
Julian Huppert: ...fewer extraditions, longer delays, higher costs, more offenders evading justice and increased risk to public safety.” That is what has to be set against the allergy that many have to this issue. Keir Starmer, former Director of Public Prosecutions, said that failure to opt in could lead to an “uncertain, cumbersome and fragmented approach, which is likely to have a damaging impact on...
Mary Macleod: ...domestic violence and abuse. In January next year, research will be launched for Project Mirabal at the Centre for Research into Violence and Abuse. Work has also been done on a victims’ law by Keir Starmer, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, and others to see whether more can be done to encourage victims to come forward. I have been impressed in the past few years by the good...
Frank Dobson: ...away from 10 years of engineering works will get no compensation. I hope that the Minister, the Department and HS2 Ltd are aware that the immediately preceding Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Keir Starmer, has given us an opinion that the procedure followed in respect of my constituency is actually in breach of the law. I therefore hope that at least the House will have an opportunity...
Dan Jarvis: .... The hon. Gentleman can take it as read that we will look carefully at the detail of his proposal, as we always seek to do. We are consulting on these matters. The Labour party has appointed Sir Keir Starmer, QC to look carefully at these matters and he will report in due course. I will move on to new clauses 2 and 3.
Baroness Cumberlege: My Lords, is my noble and learned friend aware that Keir Starmer, who was the DPP until just last year, told the Commission on Assisted Dying, chaired by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, that, “the law works well in practice”? In the light of that, does my noble and learned friend agree that there is nothing unusual about the way the law on assisted suicide works? We expect the...
Baroness Walmsley: ...on being safe. Fortunately, we now believe children better than we used to. However, in many cases, in order to secure a conviction we need the corroboration of adults who know what has happened. Keir Starmer, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, knows this well, which is why he supports this change in the law. Victims universally support such a change, and tell us that it would not...
the Bishop of Durham: ...is vital at every stage of this inquiry; that their voices, through for example the Stop Church Child Abuse campaign, are clear that ultimately only a full public inquiry will do; and that Sir Keir Starmer would be a trusted member of the inquiry panel?
Baroness Meacher: ...opponents need not fear abuse by relatives; the safeguards have been shown in Oregon to deal with this relatively small problem very well. In their literature, our opponents have taken a quote from Keir Starmer, the former DPP, out of context to imply that he is content with the law as it stands. I spoke to Keir Starmer last week. This was not his meaning, but his guidance has resulted in...
Diana R. Johnson: ...the confiscation of major criminals’ assets has so far been far from satisfactory—a lot more can be done. The Labour party has been working with the former Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Keir Starmer, on a review of the current situation with a view to tabling a series of amendments in the other place, where another Bill is currently being examined. Depending on what happens in...
Andrew Gwynne: Back in November 2013, Keir Starmer, the then Director of Public Prosecutions, launched a protocol under which the police, the social service and prosecutors would work together to share information on child sex abuse cases. What proportion of local authorities in England and Wales have adopted that protocol, and what consideration has the Attorney-General given to making it compulsory?
the Bishop of Durham: ...of personal trust” must be held accountable if they fail to report. Public opinion is in favour of such legislation, as a recent YouGov poll indicated. The former Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, has stated that the introduction of a mandatory reporting provision would close a gap in the law which has been there for a long time. The Child Protection All-Party...
Nigel Dodds: I am grateful to the Secretary of State for her reply and for her reference to the independent investigation by Keir Starmer into Mairia Cahill’s allegations. However, does she understand the concern and anger of people right across the community in Northern Ireland in relation to the allegations against Gerry Adams about the cover-up of the sexual abuse by his brother and his refusal to go...
Seema Malhotra: ...to ensure that victims’ voices are heard, that there is a way they are heard fast, and that there is a fast response to the challenges that are being raised. I am working closely on that with Keir Starmer, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, because we need to see a new agency—a new body—that can sit alongside the Victims’ Commissioner and the Children’s Commissioner to...
David Ford: ...to ensuring that the work being done at the moment — the review by the Police Ombudsman, the review commissioned by the Director of Public Prosecutions and being carried out on his behalf by Keir Starmer QC and the ongoing work of investigating further complaints being made to the PSNI and an Garda Síochána — will continue. We will then see what appropriate work may follow.
Seema Malhotra: ...USA, Canada, Australia and several European states. In those countries, discretion has been removed and certainty has been put in its place. Indeed, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Keir Starmer QC, has expressed his support for mandatory reporting to close the gap in the law. He made that position clear after the report by Alexis Jay following the inquiry in Rotherham. The...
Ann Coffey: ...problem in wider society of adults not understanding their responsibilities to all children—undeserving children as well as deserving children. When he was Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer made the point that all children should have the protection of the criminal justice system. He issued new guidance in October 2013 and said: “The final guidelines, which have been...
