UK Parliament / Open data

Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

I am always reluctant to fall foul of my honourable and learned friend in another place. If the Government are going to take the approach to breach that they have said they have, how can they not require in every case the details of the breach to be before the magistrate or judge in writing? The Minister says that national standards require it; but national standards are not always followed. Indeed, there is no legal obligation to follow them. We seek to make it a legal obligation. A person against whom an allegation of breach is made in the court would be perfectly within their rights to say that there was no record of it and that no written instruction was sent to them. That undermines the case for breach. Is this not then in line with what the Government are seeking to do? I am actually trying to help the Government here. Is it not in line with the philosophy on breach outlined earlier today that, correspondingly, the Government ought to have obligations that instructions, and records on the failure to respond to those instructions, are in writing?
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
698 c1093 
Session
2007-08
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
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