Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress the Government has made in bringing forward legislative proposals to ensure that people who desecrate war memorials are subject to appropriate sanctions.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Any vandalism or attack on property should be met with the full force of the law. Attacking any memorial is an insult, and this is particularly true of a war memorial commemorating those who have given their lives fighting for our freedom.
The Government is currently reviewing the law in this area to ensure that where memorials are damaged or desecrated the courts are able to sentence appropriately at every level for this particular type of offending.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions for use of nitrous oxide have been brought since the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 came into force.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Ministry of Justice has published data on the number of prosecutions and convictions in England & Wales up to December 2019. This data is available in the Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code data tool available here:
Select the pull down for ‘Detailed Offence’, and in the field search bar type ‘psychoactive substance’ and select all the options that appear.
The total number of prosecutions and convictions under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 in each year since 2016 can be found in row 31 and row 32 of the pivot table, respectively.
To identify the number of prosecutions and convictions specifically for use of nitrous oxide under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 would require a manual search of court records as this level of detail (specific substance) is not held within the courts proceedings database; which would be of disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prosecutions have been brought under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016; and how many of those prosecutions were successful.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Ministry of Justice has published data on the number of prosecutions and convictions in England & Wales up to December 2019. This data is available in the Principal offence proceedings and outcomes by Home Office offence code data tool available here:
Select the pull down for ‘Detailed Offence’, and in the field search bar type ‘psychoactive substance’ and select all the options that appear.
The total number of prosecutions and convictions under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 in each year since 2016 can be found in row 31 and row 32 of the pivot table, respectively.
To identify the number of prosecutions and convictions specifically for use of nitrous oxide under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 would require a manual search of court records as this level of detail (specific substance) is not held within the courts proceedings database; which would be of disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions she and officials of her Department have had with the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland on sentencing policy.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of increasing maximum sentences on offender behaviour.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which criminal offences have had the maximum attributable penalty increased in the last 12 months.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2016 to Question 30414, on terrorism; Hyde Park, if the Secretary of State for Justice will support the Hyde Park victims by providing financial assistance outwith the Legal Aid Agency process.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The Government’s sympathies are with the victims and friends and families of those who lost their lives and were injured in this terrible attack.
As I said in my answer of 14 March to Parliamentary Question 30414, decisions on funding individual cases are taken independently by the Legal Aid Agency. The decision not to provide legal aid funding for this claim for damages was made as it does not meet the criteria set by Parliament. Ministers are prevented by law from intervening in the individual decisions of the Legal Aid Agency.
The legal aid scheme sets out the extent of the circumstances in which Parliament has decided it is appropriate for the taxpayer to fund litigation. The Government has no current plans to change arrangements for funding in damages cases or provide alternative funding to meet litigation costs.
Asked by: Gavin Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party - Belfast East)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will conduct an urgent review of the Legal Aid Agency's decision to refuse a request to fund a civil case into the Hyde Park bombing.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The Government’s sympathies are with the victims and friends and families of those who lost their lives and were injured in this terrible attack.
Decisions on funding individual cases are taken independently by the Legal Aid Agency. The decision not to provide legal aid funding for this claim for damages was made as it does not meet the criteria set by Parliament. Ministers are prevented by law from intervening in the individual decisions of the Legal Aid Agency.