Bribery Bill [Lords]

And those issues must of course be a matter for the prosecution. Bribery is a serious offence, but in deciding whether to prosecute, prosecutors will take all those factors into account and weigh them appropriately. They might take into account whether the loss or harm can be described as minor; whether it was a single incident; whether it was a matter of misjudgment; or whether the offence was committed as a result of a genuine mistake or misunderstanding. The prosecution must consider all those factors before deciding whether to proceed. Members have also mentioned the consequences of replacing the requirement for the Attorney-General's consent to a prosecution under the Bill with that of the director of one of the prosecuting authorities. Clause 10 provides that responsibility for granting consent to a bribery prosecution will rest with the directors of the relevant prosecuting authorities. For offences under the Bill, we consider that to be the appropriate level at which such a judgment should be taken on the basis of what I have already said about the factors that they need to take into consideration. The Joint Committee agreed with our judgment. We fully recognise the constitutional importance of the Attorney-General's position and the need to maintain effective parliamentary accountability for the operation of the prosecution services, but the Attorney-General will continue to have a fundamental role in those matters. The protocol between the Attorney-General and the prosecuting authorities published last July sets out the circumstances in which the Attorney-General will be consulted and how the Attorney-General and directors will engage with one and other. The protocol serves to underline the fact that the directors of the prosecuting authorities exercise their statutory functions under the superintendence of the Attorney-General, who is responsible to Parliament for those directors' functions in relation to prosecutions. The Attorney-General is responsible in turn for safeguarding the independence of prosecutors in taking prosecuting decisions. The hon. Member for Cambridge (David Howarth) asked whether there would still be opportunities for the Attorney-General to interfere, as he put it, in cases that involved national security. The only type of case in which the Attorney-General would consider directing that a prosecution not be started or not continue—or, in the case of the SFO, that an investigation not take place or not continue—would be one in which the Attorney-General was satisfied that it was necessary to do so for the purpose of safeguarding national security. Again, it is important to take the protocol into account. When national security is under threat, the Government consider it right that the Attorney-General, having consulted other Ministers, should have the power to halt a prosecution or an investigation carried out by the Serious Fraud Office. It will be the Attorney-General—after consulting other Ministers—and not necessarily the prosecuting authorities who will have the significant relevant expertise in that area. The Government still expect most such cases to be settled by way of discussions between the Attorney-General and the relevant prosecutor. Only in rare cases would it be appropriate for the Attorney-General to give such a direction.