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Schengen Agreement
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the acquis of the Schengen agreement that has not been deposited in the Library. [64189]
Kate Hoey: I have been asked to reply.
The Schengen acquis will not be defined definitively until the Amsterdam Treaty enters into force, at which point the Council of Ministers will be invited to adopt two Decisions defining the acquis and allocating a European Union legal base to each Schengen measure. Draft versions of these Decisions, with Explanatory Memoranda, were submitted to the House and copied to the Library on 21 May 1998. Of course, the acquis will continue to grow as the Schengen Executive Committee will continue to adopt instruments right up to the entry into force of Amsterdam.
The Government have also placed in the Library copies of the 1985 Schengen Agreement, the 1990 Schengen Convention and the Accession Protocols and all the Decisions and Declarations of the Schengen Executive Committee covering the period up to and including June 1997 which are in our possession, except for six documents which are classified as "Confidential". Some of these documents are incomplete and there are others which we have not yet received: these are indicated in the list which accompanies the documents deposited in the Library. We are endeavouring to obtain the missing documents and hope to deposit a further set of texts up to and including measures adopted in the first half of 1998 in the Library in the New Year.
Mr. Healey:
To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department how many men who were designated the father and subject to a maintenance court order have been subsequently proven not be the father by DNA testing. [64408]
Mr. Hoon:
This information is not collected.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department what has been the total expenditure and the breakdown of expenditure in the Cabinet Office since May 1997 on (a) public opinion research, (b) television, radio and newspaper advertising, (c) direct mail and (d) publicity. [64185]
Mr. Hoon:
To date the expenditure under these headings has been:
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(a) nil
(b) £293,091.44, all of which related to judicial appointments and the recruitment of staff.
(c) nil
(d) £182,263, broken down as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Domestic Violence leaflets/booklets/posters | 62,646 |
| "Who Decides?" Green Paper | 32,292 |
| Marriage Support Services Directory | 23,157 |
| You too could be a Magistrate--reprint | 3,792 |
| Working for Justice--guide to LCD | 36,120 |
| Civil justice Consultation Paper | 17,396 |
| Judicial Appointments application forms--reprint | 6,860 |
| Total | 182,263 |
HOME DEPARTMENT
Criminal Trials
Mr. Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the Government's response to the recommendations of the Law Commission report No. 245: Evidence in Criminal Proceedings: Hearsay and Related Topics; and if he will make a statement. [64785]
Mr. Straw: The Government consider the Law Commission's report No. 245, published in June 1997, a thorough and comprehensive review of the law on hearsay evidence. It contains 50 recommendations and a draft bill which are intended to modernise and codify the law.
The Government have given careful consideration to the recommendations in the report, in consultation with the Law Commission. They have concluded that the proposals will simplify the law and enable more evidence to be deemed admissible, whilst maintaining proper safeguards to protect the interests of the defendant.
The Government have decided to accept all the recommendations in the report.
Mr. Mackinlay:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek powers to allow a judge discretion not to abandon criminal trials where a defendant's criminal record is revealed, prior to verdict, by a co-defendant or witness; and if he will make a statement. [63022]
Mr. Boateng:
The law on previous misconduct, which includes the admissibility in criminal proceedings of a defendant's criminal record, is currently under consideration by the Law Commission. The Law Commission issued a consultation paper on this subject in July 1996 and we will await their final report, which is expected next year, before reaching a decision on this matter.
Mr. Bradshaw:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will publish his proposals for non-temporary UK-wide legislation against terrorism. [64784]
Mr. Straw:
I have today published, jointly with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, a consultation document containing proposals to replace the current temporary framework of legislation against terrorism with permanent United Kingdom-wide provisions.
The document sets out the Government's proposals for police powers and other measures which would apply throughout the United Kingdom to deal with the threat
17 Dec 1998 : Column: 726
from all forms of terrorism, including those which might develop in the future. The proposals take proper account of the peace process and the security situation in Northern Ireland. They also introduce measures to combat domestic terrorism and strengthen our response to the continuing threat from international terrorism.
The proposals in the consultation document are designed to be both effective and proportionate in responding to terrorism whilst ensuring that individual rights are protected and that the United Kingdom's international commitments are fulfilled.
Views are invited on all of the proposals discussed in the document, and the consultation period will last until 16 March 1999. Following this, proposals will be drawn up for new counter-terrorist legislation, to be introduced at a suitable opportunity.
Mr. Bradshaw:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many comments he has received on the White Paper on immigration and asylum; and if he will publish them. [64783]
Mr. Straw:
334 comments have been received on the White Paper 'Fairer, Faster and Firmer--A Modern Approach to Immigration and Asylum'. A list of those who commented together with copies of their comments, with the exception of six whose authors requested that they should not be published, have been placed in the Library.
Mr. Clappison:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 8 December 1998, Official Report, columns 107-08, what plans he has to require courts to notify the Immigration and Nationality Directorate when someone subject to immigration control is convicted of an offence resulting in a sentence of (a) imprisonment of less than 12 months and (b) a community service order. [64688]
Mr. Mike O'Brien:
Asylum seekers who declare their application in-country may be eligible for support under the terms of the National Assistance Act 1948 or the Children Act 1989. In both cases, this support is provided by local authority social services departments. It is for the local authorities concerned to decide how best to discharge their responsibilities. Under current legislation, the Home Office has no role in those decisions.
My hon. Friend the Member for Leeds, North-East (Mr. Best) has written to me about this matter and I will be replying to him shortly.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the Government's policy towards the proposals discussed at the recent meeting in Brussels of the European Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in respect of the interception of communications. [64470]
Mr. Straw:
The Government's policy towards co-operation between member states of the European Union on interception of communications remains as reported to the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Communities and recorded in their Report Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (14th Report,
17 Dec 1998 : Column: 727
Session 1997-98). Justice and Home Affairs Ministers meeting in Brussels on 3 and 4 December addressed a number of questions relating to the latest text of the draft Convention. We have reached agreement on much of the interception provisions. We are now seeking to ensure that the text accommodates important features of our own interception law and policy as well as that of other member states. In particular, differences in national legislation should not have the effect that operations carried out in relation to the United Kingdom's security and intelligence agencies would fall within the scope of the Convention when it will clearly not apply in relation to their equivalents in other member states. The Government's position on the latest text is under consideration by the European Scrutiny Committees.
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