Speeches by Sackman.

“I thank all hon. Members for their contributions. I will set out the rationale for clause 17 and then address the central argument presented by Opposition Members about the repeal of the presumption —the Government do not overclaim for it; is not a silver bullet for the problems and challenges of child protection in th…”

“The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. Obviously, we have appeal systems and, in some family proceedings, the nature of them can be iterative; as family circumstances and the facts change, it might be that there are provisions in directions to come back and relitigate some of those child arrangements. In other cases, t…”

“There is only one Old Bailey, and as a result of clause 20, there will only ever be one Old Bailey. I invite all members of the Committee to join together on a group tour of the new facility in Salisbury Square when it opens, hopefully in a year’s time. Question put and agreed to. Clause 20 accordingly ordered to stand…”

“The welfare of children must always be the family courts’ paramount concern when they make decisions about a child’s life. That principle is enshrined in the Children Act 1989. The Family Justice Council has published guidance on this issue, which has been endorsed by the president of the family division. That guidance…”

“CTB 36 Fair Hearing”

“I think that, for once, consensus reigns.”

“I could not agree more. That is precisely why we are doing this, and it is why I commend the clause to the Committee.”

“The clause will make it easier to make changes to the types of expenses that can be reimbursed so that we can more nimbly react to what the magistracy requires. It is right that our valued magistrates are reimbursed for reasonable expenses and should not feel out of pocket for serving their community. Section 15 of the…”

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“I am very happy to provide that information, to the extent that we hold it. Question put and agreed to. Clause 15 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 16 Application of special measures to victim personal statements etc Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.”

“The amendment contradicts the Government’s aims of increasing efficiency across the courts. I understand that it was likely born out of a desire to ensure adequate safeguards, but I reassure the hon. Gentleman that retrial in magistrates courts, which will be accompanied by a Crown court judge’s reasons for allowing th…”

“Schedule 2”

“The amendment, which would require retrials to take place in front of a Crown court jury, goes beyond both the current practice for appeals from the magistrates court and beyond the established principles in other criminal appeal proceedings, whereby the lower court reconsiders the case. As I have indicated, it would c…”

“I am grateful to all the Members who have spoken for the points they have raised. Without repeating myself, they have focused on a number of areas. The first is the concern around access to justice under the new process. We had a good debate on the question of the availability of legal aid in an earlier sitting. As I h…”

“Amendment 56 concerns appellants who were originally dealt with by way of a mental health disposal without being convicted, on the basis that they were suffering from a mental disorder that justified that disposal. The findings leading to the mental health disposal can be appealed against as if they were a conviction, …”

“To be clear, we are not doing away with the right to appeal magistrates court decisions; we are refining the process so that it protects the rights of defendants, victims and witnesses in a more proportionate way. For those reasons, I urge the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle not to press his amendments to a vote.”

“Appeals from magistrates’ courts”

“Amendment 55, which was also tabled by the hon. Gentleman, would mean that a retrial ordered as a result of a successful appeal of conviction would be heard by a jury instead of returning for a retrial in the magistrates court. Currently, as I have indicated, if a defendant appeals a conviction received in the magistra…”

“Clause 7 ordered to stand part of the Bill.”

“In appeals from the Crown court to the Court of Appeal, there is no automatic rehearing on appeal, and the Court of Appeal will review only the specific issue identified at the permission stage, essentially narrowing down the issues in play. In the appeals process on which our new model is based, the Court of Appeal ca…”