Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many (a) males and (b) females have been charged with the offence of rape in England in each of the last three years.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold any data which shows the number of suspects charged with the offence of rape. However, management information is held showing the number of suspects charged, by sex, flagged as involving allegations of rape where the CPS authorised a charge and a prosecution has commenced in each of the last three years ending March 2022. The table below shows the number of decisions to charge, in rape flagged cases by the sex of suspects, where this has been identified.
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Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Unduly Lenient Scheme allows the Law Officers to refer sentences passed for the most serious criminal offences to the Court of Appeal for review. The Court of Appeal has the power to increase a sentence on referral in the rare cases where the sentencing judge has fallen into gross error and imposed a sentence which is outside the reasonable range. This is an important mechanism in our criminal justice system to ensure that such sentences are commensurate with the seriousness of the offending and give the victims of crime confidence that justice will be served.
In the course of this year the Law Officers have successfully referred sentences for a variety of offences including controlling and coercive behaviour, rape of a child, rape, kidnapping and robbery. Earlier this year, the Attorney General successfully argued in person before the Court of Appeal that the sentence imposed on Stephen Gibbs for the attempted murder of his ex-partner was unduly lenient. The Court of Appeal increased his sentence from 13 years’ imprisonment with a licence extension of 5 years to 20 years and 7 months’ imprisonment with a licence extension of 5 years.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of prosecutions of offences under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has had considerable success in increasing prosecutions of modern slavery cases involving the exploitation of vulnerable people. In addition to the number of offences charged by way of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, CPS records identify the number of defendants prosecuted for offences related to modern slavery, including conspiracy to commit Modern Slavery Act offences, which is charged under s1 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 . The number of defendants who have been prosecuted for modern slavery offences increased from 284 in 2017-18 to 322 in 2020-21, an increase of 13.4%. The increase has been achieved despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps he is taking to increase public understanding of the law during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Public understanding of the law is even more essential during this unique time when individuals are facing unprecedented challenges. Public legal education is vital to help people to understand the law, their rights, and their responsibilities, and I am proud to work closely with the legal and third sector as part of my Public Legal Education Committee to support and promote this work.
The Attorney General’s Office has also recently supported Justice Week this year, delivered digitally at the start of March. It is a testament to the sector’s commitment to supporting the public in times of crisis that pro bono support and public legal education across the country has continued in spite of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what Departmental oversight is exercised over the decisions of the CPS Complex Casework Units.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Complex Casework Units (CCUs) undertake some of the most complex and serious casework handled by the CPS. A recent report published by Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCSPI) found that CCUs are staffed by highly dedicated, skilled and professional teams who deliver high quality casework, often in demanding circumstances.
CCUs are overseen through a structure of experienced legal managers including Unit Heads, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutors and Chief Crown Prosecutors. The Report identified evidence of effective and regular meetings and conversations between lawyers and managers about casework. They also identified evidence of national oversight with the referral of relevant cases being made to Headquarters for consideration.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the CPS has adequate resources to tackle hate crime on social media.
Answered by Michael Ellis
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is committed to robustly prosecuting online hate crime cases, including offline offences with online elements. The CPS works closely with partners across Government under the hate crime action plan.
On 12 August 2019, the Prime Minister announced an investment of an additional £85 million for the CPS. The work carried out by the CPS is changing, and this new funding will provide the increased capacity to enable the CPS to respond effectively to challenging trends, such as an increase in online crime and the volume of digital evidence.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, whether the provisions in the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill will enable the UK to determine the circumstances in which lower courts will have regard to rulings of the European Court of Justice in relation to retained EU case law.
Answered by Geoffrey Cox
Section 26 of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 provides a power for Ministers to make regulations to determine which Courts may depart from judgments handed down by the Court of Justice of the European Union before the end of the implementation period and in what circumstances. This will ensure UK courts are not inappropriately bound by retained EU case law after the UK has left the EU.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, whether the UK will remain a party to the European Convention on Human Rights after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Geoffrey Cox
The UK will remain party to the ECHR after it has left the EU. The UK has strong human rights protections within a comprehensive and well-established constitutional and legal system and the decision to leave the EU does not change this.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, what estimate he has made of the number of cases of bullying and harassment that have been recorded against managers in his Department in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
There have been no recorded cases of bullying and harassment in the Attorney General’s Office in any of the last five years.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, how many non-disclosure agreements his Department has entered into with Departmental staff in each of the last five years.
Answered by Robert Buckland
The Attorney General’s Office has not entered into any non-disclosure agreements in the last five years.