Speeches by Cox.

“All I would suggest is that the ADR UK data has given rise to lots of more recent studies that are coming to very different conclusions and there is a range of opinions on this matter.”

“Chair, may I say something? We are about to embark on questions on the matter, and this is, I think, a rather elaborate opening statement.”

“How will the new listing framework help to fast-track prosecutions for rape and serious sexual offences? What other measures is the Secretary of State introducing or supporting to that end, so that we can honour our manifesto commitments to bring perpetrators to swift justice?”

“1. What progress his Department has made on creating a national listing framework.”

“Mr Atkinson, do you agree?”

“We have divergent views on that one. Allocation decisions under the Bill cannot be appealed. Do you expect that decisions would therefore be challenged by judicial review, Mr Guest?”

“Are you satisfied, as the CPS, that it would be a fair process?”

“Do you have a view on that?”

“Okay, thank you. I think my other question has already been covered, so I will stop there.”

“Would the hon. Member agree that legal judgment by peers or equals can include legal judgment by magistrates, and that indeed there is no ancient right to jury trial? To say so is to misrepresent the case.”

“The Opposition have chosen to misrepresent this Bill. That is their choice, but it does the delivery of justice in this country no favours. That misrepresentation has centred on one of the Bill’s many provisions—the proposed changes to mode of trial—but this Bill does not abolish jury trials. It moves some cases to the…”

“Would the right hon. Gentleman accept that the Bill preserves jury trials? It does not abolish them, and to say that it does is to misrepresent the case.”

“I very much respect what my hon. Friend is saying, but the right to elect is not an ancient right; it was introduced in 1855 and escaped reforms in the 1970s. It is therefore a relatively recent addition to the judicial armoury.”

“We could think of this exchange as Cox v. Cox. The right hon. and learned Gentleman mentions legal history. I have more than a passing interest in that and am minded to think of the Summary Jurisdiction Act 1879, which moved a lot of cases from a jury system into the magistrates system. The architect of that was Disrae…”

“Will he give way?”

“Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman give way?”

“Will the hon. Lady give way?”

“rose—”

“I am a member of the Justice Committee, so this is of interest to me. The cross-cutting nature of the Bill is intended to encourage the MOD to work with other Departments, for example with the MOJ and the Home Office on crime and justice. The victims code has existed for some time nationally. I would be interested to k…”

“Thank you for sharing some pretty damning evidence, along with the previous panel, about the state of military housing in the UK. That evidence has been reinforced by members of the Committee who have lived in that housing. Given the scale of the challenge and the ambition of the Bill, is there anything that you would …”