Speeches by Qureshi.

“I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.”

“We call these things in the magistrates court the smaller, lower things—they are not. As we know, most people who get charged with a criminal offence are dealt with in the magistrates court. Some 90% of criminal cases are heard in the magistrates court. Appeals form only about 1% of the Crown court backlog, which shows…”

“I beg to move amendment 70, in clause 13, page 27, line 37, at end insert— “(7) Disclosure of the details of any connection between the independent supporter and the complainant is required prior to seeking the court’s agreement of the independent supporter.” This proposed addition is simple. The clause centres on witn…”

“If people cannot appeal, some could receive longer sentences. The combination will lead to a lot of unfairness. We need access to justice. The state’s ability to protect its citizens is the most fundamental right. The state has a duty, but we have a duty to our citizens as well. We must not keep taking away their right…”

“I am sorry to say that a lot of these people will not be able to construct a legal argument. However, having an automatic right to appeal means that they can go before a Crown court judge, sitting with two lay justices, and they can make their case again. The judge will be the qualified person who can look at issues of…”

“I will not press the amendments tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for York Central. However, it is important to bring to the Government’s attention the real-life situation of ordinary, working people—our constituents, who we see on a daily basis. We all know how they are. Most of them are quite nervous; a lot are qui…”

“I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Clause 9 ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 10 Evidence about previous false complaints relating to sexual offences Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.”

“One also has to understand that comparing one country’s tradition to another is not the correct way. Continental systems, for example, operate on an entirely different foundation. They use panels rather than a single judge, and the panels will have three lawyers or judges and two lay people, or it could be a different …”

“Earlier we discussed the fact that other countries do not have a jury system, and that is correct. Scotland was referred to, and it was probably an inadvertent misunderstanding, but I understand that Scotland still has a jury system for certain offences; there are 15 jurors for criminal matters, and 12 for civil cases.”

““very high levels of uncertainty””

“Real operational failures are also contributing to delay. In one case at the Old Bailey, a trial that was expected to last three months went for five, largely because the defendants were not brought to court on time. Around 40 sitting days were lost waiting for prisoner transport, which is the equivalent of eight rape …”

“The Government’s case is that judge-alone trials will be faster, but that claim has no reliable evidential foundation. The Criminal Bar Association highlighted that the estimate relied upon—that judge-only trials may be 20% quicker—was itself described as being subject to”

“Sir Brian Leveson recommended that a case should be heard by the Crown court bench division, with no right to a jury trial, only if it carried a potential sentence of 24 months or more. To change the maximum sentencing period in the magistrates court without proper consultation and debate in Parliament is a fundamental…”

“As I said, my amendments are probing amendments. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”

“I rise to support the comments made by the Liberal Democrat spokesperson, the hon. Member for Chichester, about the importance of legal aid. There has already been a real reduction in the number of cases in which legal aid is given. Many defendants turn up at the magistrates court without any legal representation becau…”

“We have discussed the issues with the backlog of cases, and I have maintained for the last week or so that it is not juries causing these problems. Members will be pleased to know that I will not go into the full list of cases and data I spoke to earlier, but if there is better triaging of cases, earlier and more effec…”

“Since then, the rules have changed massively. Now, in a lot of cases, previous convictions can be brought in, which means that a lot of cases involve applications to do so. As the jury is separate from the judge, it is not prejudiced by other things. That is important because, at the end of the day, the fact that a per…”

“It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Ms Jardine. Amendment 34 would ensure that the negative procedure—what I call the back route—cannot be used to allow magistrates courts to take away people’s rights for up to 24 months; it would require a proper debate and a vote in Parliament.”

“I entirely agree. The state of some of the courts in this country is sad. They are completely neglected, which creates a lot of challenges.”

“The Institute for Government also said that juries do not take up that much time—they save more time. The point is that, without too much difficulty, we could get the courts up and running and working for extra sitting days. Essentially, if we had more court sitting days, we would not have the backlog; it is not the ju…”