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Speech in Commons Chamber - Fri 29 Mar 2019
United Kingdom’s Withdrawal from the European Union

"I particularly appreciate my hon. Friend’s remarks in respect of Northern Ireland, but the hon. Member for North Down (Lady Hermon) is precisely right. Will he reflect on the fact that bastions of Unionism such as the Federation of Small Businesses, the CBI, the Ulster Farmers’ Union and Ulster chambers …..."
Andrew Murrison - View Speech

View all Andrew Murrison (Con - South West Wiltshire) contributions to the debate on: United Kingdom’s Withdrawal from the European Union
Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 19 Feb 2019
Northern Ireland Backstop

"Does the Solicitor General agree that whatever agreement is arrived at with Brussels, we must get away from the idea that the potentially forever customs union is seen as basecamp for our future trading relationship?..."
Andrew Murrison - View Speech

View all Andrew Murrison (Con - South West Wiltshire) contributions to the debate on: Northern Ireland Backstop
Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 15 Jan 2019
European Union (Withdrawal) Act

"Some 57% of my constituents voted to leave and so did I. It may be unfashionable but I will be supporting the Government tonight, because after the sophistry, chicanery and obfuscation of last week, I genuinely feel that we may not have Brexit at all. The Attorney General is absolutely …..."
Andrew Murrison - View Speech

View all Andrew Murrison (Con - South West Wiltshire) contributions to the debate on: European Union (Withdrawal) Act
Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 18 Apr 2018
Leaving the EU: Scotland and Wales Continuity Bills

"The Attorney General is absolutely right to resist politicking by the SNP. Does he agree that there is no sense in Northern Ireland that the people there will be remotely disadvantaged by the lack of a continuity Bill?..."
Andrew Murrison - View Speech

View all Andrew Murrison (Con - South West Wiltshire) contributions to the debate on: Leaving the EU: Scotland and Wales Continuity Bills
Written Question
Plea Bargaining
Wednesday 15th February 2017

Asked by: Andrew Murrison (Conservative - South West Wiltshire)

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, what information his Department holds on the number of plea bargains offered to defendants in England since 2010.

Answered by Jeremy Wright

All decisions by the prosecution are made in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors which sets out a Full Code Test that applies at all stages of any prosecution.

In addition to the principles set out in the Code, a prosecutor considering a plea offered by the defence will have regard to the Attorney General's Guidelines on the Acceptance of Pleas and the Prosecutor's Role in the Sentencing Exercise [2009] and the Attorney General’s Guidelines on Plea Discussions in cases of serious or complex fraud (where appropriate).

The Full Code Test states that a prosecution will only proceed if the prosecutor finds sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that a prosecution is in the public interest. As such a prosecutor will assess the acceptability of a plea to determine whether it accords with the broad extent of the criminality that met the evidential stage of the Full Code test.

If this stage is met the prosecutor will further consider whether it is in the public interest to accept the plea. In addition the prosecutor will ensure that the basis of a guilty plea is not based on a misleading or untrue set of facts and that proper account is taken of the victim's interests prior to any plea being accepted. The Code is clear that prosecutors should only accept such pleas if the court is able to pass a sentence that matches the seriousness of the offending.

Neither the Crown Prosecution Service nor the Serious Fraud Office maintain a central record of cases involving the acceptance of a guilty plea to some or alternative charges, or whether they were accepted on a particular basis. This information could only be obtained by examining CPS or SFO case files, which would incur disproportionate cost.

Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 10 Feb 2011
Voting by Prisoners

"Does my right hon. Friend think it reasonable for the European Court of Human Rights to insist on a right for individuals if those individuals have not bothered either to register to vote or, indeed, to vote when they have not been in custody?..."
Andrew Murrison - View Speech

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