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Human Rights Reports
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those organisations whose reports on human rights internationally are routinely considered by his Department; with special reference to those who consider asylum application procedures. [14119]
Miss Widdecombe: The asylum division considers a wide range of material relating to human rights including from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Commission of Jurists, the parliamentary human rights group, the Commonwealth human rights initiative, Human Rights Watch, the Refugee Council, the Minority Rights Group, Asylum Aid, the United States Department of State and the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board. The Department also has access to Council of the European Union Heads of Mission reports and advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on human rights issues. Other non-governmental and media reports are monitored on a regional or country basis.
UNHCR, Amnesty International, Asylum Aid, the Refugee Council and, in addition, the Council of Europe are known to have issued documents considering asylum application procedures.
Karamjit Singh Chahal
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will grant temporary release to Karamjit Singh Chahal from Bedford prison; and if he will make a statement. [14124]
Mr. Kirkhope:
My right hon. and learned Friend is satisfied that Mr. Chahal's continued detention is necessary.
8 Feb 1996 : Column: 316
Mr. Madden:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library copies of correspondence from the Data Protection Registrar seeking clarification of the data protection implications of the use of national insurance numbers as envisaged under the consultation document on prevention of illegal working; and if he will make a statement. [14131]
Miss Widdecombe:
There has been no such correspondence. However, as I made clear to the hon. Member on 6 February, we are in touch with the Data Protection Registrar on this matter.
Mr. Alex Carlile:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the dates and origins of all representations which his Department received before 25 December 1995 concerning the use of restraints on women prisoners attending hospital; and if he will make a statement. [12418]
Miss Widdecombe:
This information is not recorded centrally and could be supplied in the required form only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Cummings:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases have been referred by Durham police to the Crown Prosecution Service in each of the last three years; how many have been prosecuted; and how many have been successful. [13246]
The Attorney-General:
I have been asked to reply.
The figures shown in the tables represent the number of cases received from the police and the number of defendants whose case proceeded to a hearing in magistrates courts and in the Crown court during the calendar years 1993, 1994 and 1995, and of those, the proportion who were convicted. Convictions are inclusive of guilty pleas, as well as of contested hearings.
In the magistrates court:
Table 1 shows the number of defendants whose case was received by the CPS, and the number whose case was finalised; of defendants finalised, the number whose case was referred to the CPS for pre-charge advice, and the number of other, non-criminal, proceedings--such as forfeiture proceedings under the Obscene Publications Acts.
Table 2 shows the number of defendants whose case was not proceeded with, divided into cases where the prosecution was dropped and cases which could not proceed--for example because the defendant had died, or could not be traced.
Table 3 shows the number of those cases proceeded with, showing: the number of defendants bound over to keep the peace; the number of defendants' cases heard in the magistrates court; the number of defendants' committed to the Crown court; and the number of defendants' whose case was discharged at committal.
Table 4 shows the outcome of the cases heard in the magistrates court, showing the number of defendants convicted and the number acquitted.
8 Feb 1996 : Column: 317
In the Crown court:
Table 5 shows the number of defendants whose case was received and the number finalised. Of the number of defendants cases finalised, the table shows the number of cases which were appeals from the magistrates court or committed to the Crown court from the magistrates court for sentence.
Table 6 shows the number of defendants' cases not proceeded with, divided into those in which no evidence was offered before the jury was sworn, prosecution dropped, and those which could not proceed and were written off--for example, because the defendant had died, could not be traced by the police, or had been found unfit to plead.
Table 7 shows the number of defendants' cases proceeded with divided into the number bound over to keep the peace and the number heard in the Crown court.
Table 8 shows the number of defendants' cases heard in the Crown court which resulted in convictions and the number which resulted in acquittals.
8 Feb 1996 : Column: 318
| Case numbers | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Received | Finalised | of which... | |||||
| Pre-charge advice | Per cent. | Other proceedings | Per cent. | ||||
| 1993 | 16,296 | 16,381 | 1,035 | 6.3 | 2 | 0.1 | |
| 1994 | 14,963 | 14,654 | 1,173 | 8.0 | 12 | 0.1 | |
| 1995 | 14,354 | 15,110 | 1,074 | 7.1 | 18 | 0.1 | |
| Not proceeded with of which... | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prosecution dropped | Per cent. | Written Off | Per cent. | ||
| 1993 | 2,144 | 13.9 | 1,677 | 10.9 | |
| 1994 | 1,852 | 13.7 | 392 | 2.9 | |
| 1995 | 1,811 | 12.9 | 866 | 6.1 | |
8 Feb 1996 : Column: 317
8 Feb 1996 : Column: 317
| Outcome of which... | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Convicted | Per cent. | Acquitted | Per cent. | ||
| 1993 | 9,801 | 97.7 | 226 | 2.3 | |
| 1994 | 9,369 | 96.4 | 295 | 3.6 | |
| 1995 | 9,709 | 97.9 | 207 | 2.1 | |
| of which... | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts | Finalised | Appeals and committals for sentence | Per cent. | |
| 1993 | 6,591 | 5,138 | 986 | 19.1 |
| 1994 | 1,538 | 1,448 | 271 | 18.7 |
| 1995 | 1,402 | 1,644 | 309 | 18.8 |
| Not proceeded with of which... | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prosecution dropped | Per cent. | Written Off | Per cent. | ||
| 1993 | 222 | 5.3 | 37 | 0.9 | |
| 1994 | 56 | 4.7 | 6 | 0.5 | |
| 1995 | 94 | 7.0 | 8 | 0.6 | |
8 Feb 1996 : Column: 318
| Proceeded with of which... | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bind over | Percentage | Hearings | Percentage | ||
| 1993 | 75 | 1.8 | 3,818 | 91.9 | |
| 1994 | 11 | 0.9 | 1,104 | 93.8 | |
| 1995 | 21 | 1.5 | 1,212 | 90.7 | |
| Outcome of which... | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Convicted | Per cent. | Acquitted | Per cent. | |
| 1993 | 3,494 | 91.5 | 324 | 8.5 |
| 1994 | 1,032 | 93.4 | 72 | 6.6 |
| 1995 | 1,126 | 92.9 | 86 | 7.1 |
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Fishing Vessels
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many vessels are under investigation for failing to comply with their licence conditions in 1995. [13667]
Mr. Baldry:
At 31 December 1995, 84 fishing vessels were under investigation by the Ministry for suspected fisheries offences, including breaches of licence conditions.
8 Feb 1996 : Column: 319
Mr. Morley:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he has taken to monitor the long-term effects of the sale of genetically modified foods. [14151]
Mrs. Browning:
The safety of foods produced using genetic modification is thoroughly assessed by the independent Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes before approval for their use is given. As a condition of this approval applicants are required to monitor routinely the genetic stability of the products that they market and provide this information to the committee.
Mr. Morley:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to set up an ethics committee to examine proposals to develop and market genetically modified plants and animals. [14152]
Mrs. Browning:
This matter has already been examined by two Government committees, the Committee on the Ethics of Genetic Modification and Food Use which reported in September 1993, and the Committee to Consider the Ethical Implications of Emerging Technologies in the Breeding of Farm Animals, which reported in February 1995. Both reports are available in the House of Commons Library.
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