Policing and Crime Bill

This amendment relates to what the noble and learned Lord, Lord Lyell of Markyate, was talking about a moment ago—the standard of proof. We are saying that we should not have in the Bill, ""on the balance of probabilities"," and that we should insert "beyond reasonable doubt". The amendment has been proposed by both Liberty and Justice; it suggests that the court must be satisfied that the criminal standard of proof is met against the person who has either been engaged in or encouraged or assisted in gang-related violence. The first amendment in the group addresses the standard of proof for a relevant injunction. There was the well known case of McCann in the House of Lords, in relation to anti-social behaviour orders. In that it was decided, given the seriousness of the matters involved—and with gang-related injunctions, they will be even more serious—that at least some reference to the heightened civil standard of proof, all but indistinguishable from the criminal standard, should apply. It was decided that, as a matter of pragmatism, a criminal standard of proof should be applied in ASBO cases. That is our argument here, particularly since the likelihood is that, if matters are so serious as to be gang-related, they will be a lot more serious than ASBOs. Furthermore, while ASBOs can impose only prohibitions, these gang injunctions can include mandatory requirements of indefinite duration, equivalent to or more serious than many community sentences following criminal convictions. The procedural guarantees of the criminal process, as guaranteed under Article 6.3 of the ECHR, and the criminal standard of proof should, therefore, apply. I beg to move.