I am most grateful to the noble Lord for his intervention. I would point out that the premise for the new clause is that the magistrates’ court is proceeded in the absence of the accused, so it does not know who it is dealing with. The point of contact comes when the very large person from the contracted company, to whom the Minister referred, is knocking on the door. The point of the suggested provision is that that person should have the discretion, looking at the individual who comes to the door and against whom the warrant is issued, to decide, ““Is this a person who is vulnerable?””—in the sense that they cannot be reasonably expected to act on his or her own behalf. If they come to that conclusion, we suggest that, at that point, they should be able to refer the matter back to the court and say, ““Well, you’ve never seen this person. They weren’t before you when you imposed that fine. Now, I’ve actually met the person in question and I think they are vulnerable and therefore you should rethink your position””. That is what the provision is all about: it is a safeguard which we suggest should be in the Bill.
Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill
Proceeding contribution from
Lord Thomas of Gresford
(Liberal Democrat)
in the House of Lords on Monday, 3 March 2008.
It occurred during Committee of the Whole House (HL)
and
Debate on bills on Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
699 c891 
Session
2007-08
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
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2023-12-15 23:38:14 +0000
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