To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Randerson on 5 February (HL4534) regarding "on the runs", what was the purpose of the scheme if it did not offer immunity, exemption or amnesty from prosecution; and whether they consider that the scheme complied with the Government’s equality obligations.

Lady Justice Hallett emphasised on a number of occasions in her report that the letters, however phrased, were not an amnesty. They were not a commitment by the State that individuals would not be prosecuted, whatever the strength of the case against them. They were only ever meant as statements of the facts, as they were believed to be at the time, as to whether or not an individual was wanted for questioning by the police.

At paragraph 9.15 of her report, Lady Justice Hallett finds that there were no express or implied criteria in the scheme to exclude any particular category of individual. She found that the administrative scheme, properly implemented, was not unlawful.