Bribery Bill [HL]

My Lords, with some trepidation as a citizen rather than a lawyer, I would like to say why I think this amendment ought to be resisted. First of all, like many other enshrined British traditions, it is worth unpicking how it originated. I think its purpose in 1906 was to prevent irresponsible private prosecutions. Of course, there was no DPP then. It seems to me that the DPP system is hardly likely to allow irresponsible private prosecutions. He has a duty to safeguard the public interest, so I think it is the last thing that he would do. The second point, which appears to me very important, is the very powerful OECD principle against anyone with a political role having a hand in a prosecution decision and anyone with a political role indeed making a decision about a prosecution and then having to be accountable for that to the legislature. I absolutely understand the respect which very distinguished former legal officers hold for the principle of the consent of the Attorney-General, and this is in no way a personal reflection. The OECD principle is not a personal reflection on the character of any individual law officer; it is a statement of a constitutional principle relating to the separation of powers. That is why I think it is important. Following the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, I think it is also important to remember that many decisions under the Bribery Act, as I hope it will become, will be on quite small matters. It will not always be BAe. I see a parallel with other prosecuting authorities. We do not ensure that the Attorney-General has to consent to Inland Revenue prosecutions. We do not ensure that the Attorney-General has to consent to Health and Safety Executive prosecutions. I really think that bribery is on that level. My final point is, even so, even with all the considerations that I have just outlined, I am perfectly content, and I am sure everybody on the committee was, for the Attorney-General to retain the formal authority that he or she has under the present Bill. The Attorney-General has not been airbrushed out of the picture; simply, the role of the Attorney-General has been put in a proper constitutional context.