Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to ensure that courts are aware of the foreign criminal convictions of (a) foreign and (b) British criminals for the purposes of bail and sentencing.

The Criminal Procedure Rules place the responsibility for alerting the court to any defendant’s previous convictions, both domestic and overseas, whether for the purposes of bail or for the purposes of sentencing, on the prosecutor.

Courts must give consideration to that information when it is available but rely on the Police to obtain and provide it.