Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Attorney General, what procedures are in place to ensure that prosecutors make courts aware of overseas criminal convictions of (a) foreign and (b) British criminals for the purposes of bail and sentencing.

Prosecutors are required to make the courts aware of all convictions, including overseas convictions, in bail and sentencing hearings. This duty is prescribed by statute and by Criminal Practice Direction and is set out in comprehensive Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) legal guidance which is available on the CPS website.

Previous convictions of EU nationals are now more easily accessible because of the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS), which was set up in 2012.