Asked by: Bim Afolami (Conservative - Hitchin and Harpenden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
What assessment he has made of the level of compliance with social distancing measures by (a) criminal and (b) civil courts during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Levels of compliance with social distancing by criminal and civil courts are high. HMCTS are following PHE guidance to ensure that our courts and tribunals support proper social distancing measures for everyone who uses and works in them.
Working with the judiciary, we have agreed how to prioritise the most urgent cases. For example, in crime we are prioritising cases in custody, in family we are dealing with cases to protect vulnerable children such as Emergency Protection Orders, Interim Care Orders and Issue Resolution Hearings in care proceedings.
With the judiciary, we have also moved to hear many more cases remotely by telephone or video wherever possible and appropriate – so that people are able to stay at home.
Jury trials are currently paused for a short time to put appropriate arrangements in place to maintain social distancing for jurors.
I also want to thank the judiciary for their continued work in courts and tribunals to keep the wheels of justice turning and keeping the public safe during these unprecedented times.
Asked by: Bim Afolami (Conservative - Hitchin and Harpenden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the effect of criminal records acquired by minors on their life opportunities.
Answered by Wendy Morton
We believe that that children who offend should have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and move ahead positively with their lives while ensuring ensure the public are adequately protected.
The criminal records disclosure regime is designed to help employers make informed recruitment decisions through the disclosure of appropriate and relevant information, particularly for roles involving children and vulnerable adults.
We have noted the Supreme Court judgment in P and others and my department is working closely with the Home Office to reform the existing regime.
Asked by: Bim Afolami (Conservative - Hitchin and Harpenden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many mediators there are in England; and how many mediations by subject have taken place in each of the last five years.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Whilst the department does not hold information on privately-funded mediation, the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) holds data on family mediation cases in England and Wales that have started and are funded by Legal Aid. This can also be found in Table 7.2 of the Legal Aid statistics:
| Family Mediation Starts |
| ||
Financial Year | All Issues | Children Only | Property & Finance | Grand Total |
2014-15 | 1,919 | 5,001 | 1,172 | 8,092 |
2015-16 | 1,889 | 5,574 | 1,369 | 8,832 |
2016-17 | 1,468 | 5,027 | 1,116 | 7,611 |
2017-18 | 1,141 | 4,270 | 891 | 6,302 |
2018-19 | 1,166 | 4,493 | 856 | 6,515 |
Further breakdown of cases and more information can be found in the published Legal Aid statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/legal-aid-statistics-january-to-march-2019.
The Department does not hold data on the total number of family mediators. However, Legal Aid funded family mediation must have Family Mediation Council (FMC) accreditation. There are currently 1053 individual mediators accredited by the FMC in England and Wales. The complete list can be found on the FMC register at: https://www.familymediationcouncil.org.uk/fmc-full-register/.
For civil cases, a list of individual mediators accredited by the Civil Mediation Council (CMC) can be found at: https://civilmediation.org/about/cmc-members-list/. The courts signpost users to mediators that are CMC accredited, but this may not reflect all mediators offering mediation sessions. The department does not hold data on privately-funded mediation for civil cases.
Asked by: Bim Afolami (Conservative - Hitchin and Harpenden)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to ensure the anonymity of defendants in the case of rape and sexual assault.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
In 1976, Parliament enacted legislation that prohibited the identification of complainants and defendants in rape cases. Twelve years later, however, the provision for anonymity of defendants was repealed, on the grounds that their situation was not comparable to that of complainants, who might not be willing to come forward and give evidence if their identity were revealed. There are no current plans to revisit this decision.