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Written Answers to Questions
The following answers were received between Friday 2 April and Friday 16 April 2004
SOLICITOR-GENERAL
Bail Appeals
Vera Baird: To ask the Solicitor-General how many appeals against grants of bail were made in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03 by Cleveland Crown Prosecution Service; and how many were successful in each year. [164443]
The Solicitor-General: The Bail (Amendment) Act 1993 gives the prosecution a right of appeal where a magistrates court grants bail to a person who is charged with or convicted of:
an offence punishable by a term of imprisonment of five years or more; or
an offence under section 12 (taking a conveyance without authority) or 12A (aggravated vehicle taking) of the Theft Act 1968.
Over the period 2001–03, the Crown Prosecution Service in Cleveland made applications under the Bail (Amendment) Act as follows:
In 2001, there were three appeals of this nature and all of them succeeded.
In 2002, there were four appeals, three of which were successful.
In 2003, there were seven appeals, four of which were successful.
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
Criminal Defence Service
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when the Criminal Defence Service will announce the result of its consultation into the provision of funding to suspects before charge. [164335]
Mr. Lammy: The Government announced on 2 February that it intends to make a number of changes to the Criminal Defence Service. The changes follow a full consultation and are designed to improve value for money by targeting criminal legal aid more efficiently on more serious offences. Funding is currently available for legal advice and assistance to suspects before charge, and there are no plans to remove this.
European Parliamentary Elections
Mr. Austin Mitchell:
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the electorate is for each (a) constituency and (b) area for the forthcoming European parliamentary elections; how many members are to be elected for each (i) constituency and (ii) area; and what percentage
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of the electorate voted in the previous European parliamentary elections in each (A) constituency and (B) area, and how many people. [165780]
Mr. Leslie: The precise electorate for the 10 June elections will not be known until the register closes on the publication of notice of election. Each European parliamentary electoral region is a single multi-member constituency. The following table shows the UK European parliamentary electoral regions, the number of MEPs to be elected for each region in June, and the local government electorates as at December 2003. The administrative unit for counting the votes in the European parliamentary elections in June is the local authority area. Electorate figures for these are available from the recent Office for National Statistics table "UK Electoral register 1 December 2003: Local government electors", which can be accessed on the ONS website at www.statistics.gov.uk. Statistics relating to the 1999 European parliamentary elections can be found in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin for 29 September 2000 (Issue 16/00, ISSN 1358–510X).
| UK European parliamentary electoral region | Local government electors at December 2003 | Seats to be elected, June 2004 |
|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 3,241,566 | 6 |
| Eastern | 4,170,840 | 7 |
| London | 5,143,392 | 9 |
| North East | 1,922,446 | 3 |
| North West | 5,188,717 | 9 |
| South East | 6,087,103 | 10 |
| South West | 3,845,253 | 7 |
| West Midlands | 4,016,007 | 7 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 3,730,275 | 6 |
| Wales | 2,228,030 | 4 |
| Scotland | 3,877,194 | 7 |
| Northern Ireland | 1,069,136 | 3 |
| Total | 44,519,959 | 78 |
High Court Judges
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will make a statement on the process by which High Court judges are (a) selected and (b) appointed. [165612]
Mr. Leslie: My noble and learned Friend the Secretary of State and Lord Chancellor recommends to Her Majesty those candidates who best meet the published criteria for appointment to the High Court Bench.
Recommendations are based on the results of the recent selection round. Advertisements in the national and legal press in July 2003 invited applications for appointment to the High Court. In addition, the senior judiciary were invited to nominate candidates. A wide consultation exercise sought evidence from senior judges and others to the extent to which all candidates met the criteria. This evidence was assessed by independent sifters and moderated by senior civil servants who then submitted advice to the Lord Chancellor and senior judiciary on the degree to which candidates met the criteria for appointment. After discussing that advice with the senior judiciary, the Lord Chancellor decided on a list of candidates considered to be appointable to the High Court.
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Individual recommendations about appointment to the High Court are made by the Lord Chancellor, after consulting the senior judiciary, from those classified as appointable and having regard to the specific needs of the High Court at the relevant time.
Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will make a statement on the Department's proposals for the selection and appointment of High Court judges. [165615]
Mr. Leslie: The Constitutional Reform Bill, currently before Parliament, will establish a Judicial Appointments Commission. The Commission will be responsible for selecting candidates for appointment as High Court judges, as well as other judicial appointments. The manner in which the Commission does so will be for it to determine, subject to the overriding criterion that selection must be on merit, and subject to any guidance which the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs may issue, for example, in requiring the Commission to seek to expand the pool of candidates from which a selection may be made.
Having made its selection, the Commission will put forward one name for each post to the Secretary of State. He will normally be expected to recommend that candidate for appointment to the Queen, but he will have limited powers to ask the Commission to reconsider, once, or to reject a particular candidate, once, or to require the selection process to be rerun. The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs will have no power to recommend to Her Majesty the appointment of a candidate of his own, who has not been selected by the Commission.
Queen's Counsel
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will list the QCs who received the highest overall payments (a) from the Community Legal Service budget and (b) from the Criminal Defence Service budget in 2002–03. [141417]
Mr. Lammy [pursuant to his reply, 26 January 2004]: I said in my previous answer that James Sturman was the QC who received the highest total payments from the Criminal Defence Service in 2002–03. This answer failed to take into account payments made under Very High Cost Case Contracts administered separately by the Legal Services Commission. The highest total payments were in fact made to John Rees who received in the region of £664,000. I apologise for this error.
Care should be taken not to misinterpret these payments as an indication of annual earnings for work carried out in the year for the following reasons:
1. Payments made during any financial year will include payments or work carried out before the start of the year, and will include payments for cases, which started and concluded over several years.
2. Payments received during any financial year do not necessarily mean that they were paid for work carried out at the rank of QC
3. Barristers may be paid directly by an instructing solicitor as part a solicitors disbursement.
4. The figures quoted above are gross payments and are inclusive of VAT, and may include payments on account where applicable as well as travel and hotel expenses incurred.
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