Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

As I have already explained in the context of the debate on the previous amendment, these orders are intended to protect the public. We know that risk is a difficult issue, and we have had a certain amount of debate about that. I am surprised that the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, seems not to have as much feeling of magistrates’ ability to undertake this task as I thought he might. They already carry out exactly this task with ASBOs and sexual offences prevention orders, and they are the risk assessors. I think they will be very good at it. They will deal with the small number of people who are very high risk. We know that this risk will present itself in different ways and at different times. We have imposed a minimum length of two years for every violent offender order to ensure that the risk of serious violence can be managed and reduced. After this two-year period, we believe that the court is best placed to assess, on an individual basis, the most appropriate length of order. We accept, however, that there is a case for an upper limit, given that the risk posed by a person subject to a violent offender order will change over time. Accordingly, we propose to table an amendment on Report that provides for a maximum length of five years. It will remain open to the police to apply to renew an order if circumstances should justify that. It will, of course, be for the court to decide whether an extension is indeed warranted. I apologise for the short notice of my written notification. I was keen to get a written notification out to people so that they could see this, rather than just mentioning it on my feet, on the Floor of the House. I hope that I did the right thing, or perhaps I should just have mentioned it on the Floor of the House. I am not sure what the normal procedure is. I thought that, in that way, I would at least give the Committee some advance notice. On the basis of what I have said about the five years, I ask the noble Lord to withdraw his amendment.