---

NORTHERN IRELAND

Northern Ireland (Murder Inquiries)

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Paul Murphy): On 1 April this year, I published Justice Cory's reports into allegations of state collusion in four
 
16 Nov 2004 : Column 84WS
 
murders in Northern Ireland. In doing so, I confirmed my intention to establish inquiries into the deaths of Robert Hamill, Billy Wright and Rosemary Nelson. I am pleased to be able to confirm today both the identities of the inquiry panels and the inquiries' terms of reference.

In each case, the panels will be chaired by a judge and will include both a member with specialist expertise and a lay member. The terms of reference have been deliberately drawn to allow the inquiries to consider both the allegations of collusion that have been made in these cases and also the issue of possible negligence.

The Robert Hamill inquiry will be chaired by Sir Edwin Jowitt, a retired member of the High Court of England and Wales. He will be joined on the inquiry panel by Sir John Evans (former Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall) and Reverend Baroness (Kathleen) Richardson of Calow (former moderator of the Free Churches' Council of England and Wales). The inquiry will be held under section 44 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998. Its terms of reference will be:

"To inquire into the death of Robert Hamill with a view to determining whether any wrongful act or omission by or within the Royal Ulster Constabulary facilitated his death or obstructed the investigation of it, or whether attempts were made to do so; whether any such act or omission was intentional or negligent; whether the investigation of his death was carried out with due diligence; and to make recommendations."

The Billy Wright inquiry will be chaired by the right hon. Lord (Ranald) MacLean of the Court of Session in Scotland. He will be supported in this role by Professor Andrew Coyle (director of the International Centre for Prisons Studies at King's College, London) and the Right Reverend John Oliver (retired diocesan Bishop of Hereford). The inquiry will be held under section 7 of the Prison Act (Northern Ireland) 1953. Its terms of reference will be:

"To inquire into the death of Billy Wright with a view to determining whether any wrongful act or omission by or within the prison authorities or other state agencies facilitated his death, or whether attempts were made to do so; whether any such act or omission was intentional or negligent; and to make recommendations."

The Rosemary Nelson inquiry will be chaired by Sir Michael Morland, a retired member of the High Court of England and Wales. The other panel members will be Sir Anthony Burden (former Chief Constable of South Wales police) and Dame Valerie Strachan (vice chair of the big lottery fund and former chairman of the Board of Customs and Excise). The inquiry will be held under section 44 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998. Its terms of reference will be:

"To inquire into the death of Rosemary Nelson with a view to determining whether any wrongful act or omission by or within the Royal Ulster Constabulary or Northern Ireland Office facilitated her death or obstructed the investigation of it, or whether attempts were made to do so; whether any such act or omission was intentional or negligent; whether the investigation of her death was carried out with due diligence; and to make recommendations."

As I said in my statement of 8 July, all three inquiries will have full powers to compel disclosure of documents and attendance of witnesses.

The inquiries will start work as soon as possible.
 
16 Nov 2004 : Column 85WS
 

SOLICITOR GENERAL

Supplementary Estimates

The Solicitor-General (Ms Harriet Harman): Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Attorney General's DEL will be increased by £104,952,000 from £516,157,000 to £621,109,000 and the administration costs limits will be increased by £83,950,000 from £384,759,000 to £468,709,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:
£'000

		New DEL
	Change	Voted	Non-voted	Total
Resource	96,670	597,217	7,000	604,217
Capital	8,282	23,015	0	23,015
Depreciation*	0	-6,123	0	-6,123
Total	104,952	614,109	7,000	621,109

*Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL since capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting.

The Crown Prosecution Service's element of the Attorney General's DEL will be increased by £94,438,000 from £466,991,000 to £561,429,000 and the administration costs limits will be increased by £81,450,000 from £353,527,000 to £434,977,000.

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from:

Administration costs changes in respect of a transfer of £81,450,000 from the Criminal Justice System Reserve to fund the CPS's core business so that it can continue contributing to meeting criminal justice performance targets. Specific initiatives funded include the narrowing the justice gap and the charging programmes; better services for victims and witness through the speaking up for justice and direct communication with victims programmes; support for the effective trial management programme and tackling cross border crime;

Programme expenditure changes in respect of a transfer of £6,100,000 from the Home Office to support the joint delivery of government targets for recovering proceeds of crime; a transfer of £141,000 from the Home Office recovered assets incentivisation fund to fund the appointment of a Receivership Panel; a transfer of £350,000 from the Home Office recovered assets incentivisation fund to provide additional resources to regional asset recovery teams; a transfer of £1,129,000 from the Home Office to support joint working and improve effective use of enforcement measures for anti-social behaviour; and

The change in the capital element of the DEL arises from the take-up of the CPS's end year flexibility of £5,268,000 from the capital modernisation fund (CMF) funding across 2004–05.

The increases will be offset by inter-departmental transfers or charged to the DEL reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

The Serious Fraud Office's element of the Attorney General's DEL will be increased by £7,500,000 from £33,140,000 to £40,640,000 and the administration costs limit will be increased by £2,500,000 from £21,240,000 to £23,740,000.

The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from additional costs, £2,500,000 for administration expenditure and £5,000,000 for programme expenditure, relating to two fraud cases and will be charged to the DEL reserve and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.
 
16 Nov 2004 : Column 86WS
 

Treasury Solicitors' Department (TSD) element of the Attorney General's DEL will be increased by £3,014,000 from £16,026,000 to £19,040,000. There is no increase in the TSD's administration cost limit and it remains at £9,992,000. There is no change in the resource element of the DEL for the Treasury Solicitors' Department (TSD).

The increase in capital of £3,014,000 from £3,400,000 to £6,414,000 arises from the procurement of a practice and case management system, which enables the Department to manage and monitor its caseload more efficiently, and a new electronic records and electronic document management system, which will be implemented this year. Capital funding is also required to purchase the furniture and fittings required in advance of TSD's change of accommodation in 2005–06. The increase will be offset by end year flexibility on capital DEL from 2003–04 and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

Crown Prosecutors

The Solicitor-General (Ms Harriet Harman): My right hon. Friend the Attorney General has made the following ministerial statement:

The review of the code for Crown prosecutors, which I announced on 18 March 2004, Official Report, column WS25, is now complete. Copies of the revised code have been printed and have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The fundamental evidential and public interest considerations have not changed. However, the code has been amended to reflect the new role played by the Crown Prosecution Service in statutory charging whereby Crown prosecutors, rather than the police, will normally decide whether or not to charge a suspect and will determine the appropriate charge or charges. The new code also properly reflects other key developments in the four years since the code was last reviewed. These include: the developing role of prosecutors in assisting the sentencing court and seeking post conviction orders such as antisocial behaviour orders; alternatives to prosecution such as conditional cautioning; and new public interest factors in favour of prosecution relating to confiscation and any other orders, children, and community confidence. To ensure the code's accessibility, it will be published in audio and Braille and, in addition to English and Welsh, the most commonly spoken community languages.

I welcome the revised code and commend it to all prosecuting authorities. Copies of the code for Crown prosecutors will be available on the Crown Prosecution Service website which can be found at www.cps.gov.uk.

---