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Sexual Offences (Protected Material) Bill

Considered in Committee.

[Dame Janet Fookes in the Chair]

Clauses 1 to 10 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

New clause 1

Regulation of disclosures by Criminal Cases Review Commission


' .--(1) Where, in connection with any relevant application made to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, any material falling within any of paragraphs (a) to (c) of section 1(1) would (apart from this section) fall to be disclosed by the Commission to the applicant--
(a) the Commission shall not disclose that material to the applicant; and
(b) it shall instead be disclosed under this Act in accordance with subsections (2) and (3).
(2) The following provisions, namely--
(a) section 3(2) to (5), and
(b) sections 4 to 6,
shall apply in connection with any disclosure by the Commission in relation to which subsection (1) above applies as they apply in connection with any disclosure by the prosecutor in relation to which section 3(1) applies.
(3) For the purposes of--
(a) subsection (1) above, and
(b) the operation, in connection with any such disclosure by the Commission, of the provisions applied by subsection (2) above,
references in this Act to the prosecutor and the defendant shall be read as references to the Commission and the applicant respectively.
(4) In this section--
(a) "relevant application" means an application made to the Commission for the reference under section 9 or 11 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 of any conviction, verdict, finding or sentence of a court in proceedings for a sexual offence; and
(b) "the applicant", in relation to a relevant application, means the person by or on whose behalf the application is made.'.--[Mr. Robert G. Hughes.]
Brought up, and read the First time.

2.12 pm

Mr. Robert G. Hughes (Harrow, West): I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

The Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means (Dame Janet Fookes): With this, it will be convenient to discuss also amendment No. 2, in the title, line 2, after 'prosecution', insert


'or by the Criminal Cases Review Commission'.

Mr. Hughes: The Bill currently protects material that is disclosed by the prosecutor in the overwhelming majority of criminal proceedings. However, there are circumstances in which material might be disclosed by someone else, when the Criminal Cases Review Commission discloses material because of an investigation into an alleged miscarriage of justice. There would be no difficulty when the commission refers a case to the Court of Appeal. When the commission declines to

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refer a case to the Court of Appeal, however, it is obliged to disclose any material it has gathered that is relevant to the decision, which may include protected material.

The Bill must therefore ensure that the commission does not disclose such material to defendants without supervision. It would be wrong for the statements made by victims of sexual offences to fall through the net, as it were, by default or by imprecise drafting of the Bill. New clause 1 would ensure that the commission discloses material in the same way as the prosecutor. The commission would disclose material either to a legal representative who gave the necessary undertaking to supervise the defendant or to the appropriate person who would similarly allow the defendant supervised access. I understand that to include the new clause in the Bill requires a minor amendment to the long title, hence amendment No. 2 which is linked to new clause 1.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Timothy Kirkhope): I am very happy to support the new clause and the amendment tabled my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, West (Mr. Hughes), which relate to the disclosure of material by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. My hon. Friend has noticed a loophole in the Bill which might, albeit in unusual circumstances, allow defendants accused of sexual offences to gain access to victims' statements as well as to photographs and medical reports without any safeguards or supervision.

I stress that the new clause does not restrict the full access which an applicant might need to the material that the commission may disclose. The Bill will not prevent the applicant from fully inspecting any material, whether that material is disclosed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission or the prosecution. It seeks to deal only with the misuse that has followed the current method of disclosure by preventing the defendant from taking permanent possession of the material or making copies of it.

2.15 pm

Mr. Alun Michael (Cardiff, South and Penarth): Am I correct in understanding that the new clause deals with an anomaly which might arise after a decision had been taken by the Criminal Cases Review Commission because of the disclosure needed at that time? Will the Minister reassure us that prior to that--before the commission takes a decision, while the matter is still under consideration by the review body or when that body subsequently refers it to the Court of Appeal--the matter is already dealt with by the Bill as it stands? Have I understood correctly?

Mr. Kirkhope: The hon. Gentleman has indeed understood correctly.

I hope that the Committee will accept the new clause.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.

Schedule agreed to.

Title

Amendment made: No. 2, in line 2, after 'prosecution', insert

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'or by the Criminal Cases Review Commission'.--[Mr. Robert G. Hughes.]

Bill, as amended, to be reported.

Order for Third Reading read.

2.17 pm

Mr. Robert G. Hughes: I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

The Bill began with a report by the royal commission on criminal justice which said:


The commission was supported by the response from the Law Society, which described the circulation of such evidence as "gaol pornography." The Bill will put a stop to that. It will deal with the harm caused by defendants in sexual offence cases who circulate such material as a form of pornography. This material often contains detailed, intimate information about the victim and the crime and has on occasion been used in prison as pornography. Outside prison, defendants and defendants' relatives have on occasion circulated copies of case papers to intimidate witnesses and as part of a lobbying process in an attempt to aid the defendant. We have to put a stop to that rare but harmful practice, and do it now.

All of us who use the Internet know that such material can go around the world in seconds. It is vital that we protect the victims of such crimes from a second assault with photographs, copies of their statements and their medical records being circulated to God knows whom. I am grateful for the support of my hon. Friend the Minister, of the hon. Member for Cardiff, South and Penarth (Mr. Michael) for the Labour party and of Liberal Democrat Members who have helped to get the Bill through.

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2.19 pm

Mr. Michael: I welcome the Bill and I congratulate the hon. Member for Harrow, West (Mr. Hughes) on providing a vehicle to end an anomaly and a scandal. As he rightly said, the royal commission on criminal justice highlighted the harm done by prison pornography. My only regret is that the Government have taken so long to address the anomaly. The Labour party has tried more than once to have such provisions put in legislation. I have moved amendments similar to these provisions to more than one Bill in Committee without Ministers accepting the sense of urgency that the hon. Gentleman has stressed. With the Bill about to become law, this is not the time to do more than remind the House of that fact: the conversion of Ministers and their support for the Bill is welcome, and we all look forward to this scandal being ended as speedily as possible.

2.20 pm

Mr. Kirkhope: The Government are delighted to support my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, West (Mr. Hughes) with his Bill. It provides an effective means of tackling the important problem of the misuse of victims' statements and other material in sexual offences cases.

We cannot win. The hon. Member for Cardiff, South and Penarth (Mr. Michael) talked about how long we have taken to act, having earlier made comments about how speedy our progress on other legislation has been. The Bill gives statutory effect to proposals that we announced last year, which were widely welcomed. We are particularly pleased that it will make a real contribution to the fight against crime.

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, West and I commend the Bill to the House.

Question put and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read the Third time, and passed.

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