Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

I do not for a moment doubt the sincerity of the Minister in any way. On the contrary, I am sure that he is totally genuine on this matter. Yet there is a lack of logicality in what he says, in my respectful submission. On the one hand, the reporting officer has a massive discretion. He is not a judicial figure; he is an administrative figure, a person obviously near to the miscreant and able to come to a proper conclusion. He has that discretion, and it is right that he should have it, but the court is not given that discretion. It is perfectly true that the court is not driven to any specific punishment or anything of that order. Indeed, I can understand the motivation for saying that it must be brought before the court, because the court will then review. The main question is this: what benefit will that appearance before the court have for the miscreant himself? The point has been amply made by the noble Lord, Lord Kingsland, that a great deal of goodwill will sometimes be won by the fact that the court—normally the magistrate—will say that it is taking no action but is looking closely at the situation. The person will know what will happen if he appears before it again. It will have almost the effect of a suspended sentence. It is missing that opportunity that is the illogicality and weakness of the Government’s position.