Page 3569 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 12 October 1994
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Similarly, there have been problems with the use of forms under the legislation. I understand that only one form has been prescribed through the proper process, perhaps in part because of the awkward and cumbersome nature of trying to find a form which suits all circumstances; and a number of other forms, I understand, have been used informally - this is according to the explanatory memorandum - to overcome short-term difficulties, again without any legal basis. A new regime is proposed in the legislation for dealing with the issue of the use of forms. I note that the Government now is tending towards a policy of having forms made by, effectively, subordinate legislation and tabled on the floor of the Assembly. That, I must say, is a much simpler way of dealing with what is, for the most part, a fairly perfunctory process of deciding in what way one accesses a particular provision in legislation. That obviously is an important provision to deal with.
There are some loopholes in provisions dealing with the capacity of a person to contact his or her lawyer. At present, through one of those loopholes, it is, in effect, possible for a person to contact their lawyer even though another section of the legislation provides that police should have a discretion not to do so where doing so might result in evidence being destroyed, or threaten some important witness, or result in an absconder leaving the jurisdiction. This legislation is designed to ensure that that loophole is closed.
Madam Speaker, it is important to acknowledge also that there have been some other public problems with the legislation. Members will recall an incident a few months ago when an individual was arrested pursuant to a warrant and he was held, I think, for 36 hours or so, when in fact the warrant really should not have been issued against him. He was, in effect, falsely held. An earlier suspect had been pulled up for a motor vehicle offence and had given that second person's name, date of birth and address. The police, having no means of verifying these details - the person not carrying their driver's licence - took them as gospel, as the truth. When the person failed to appear at the station as required, or to answer a summons, there was a warrant issued for his arrest and he turned out not to be the person who was sought after all.
The Government is dealing with this problem by providing for new mechanisms. It will be possible now to provide for a person to be released only in certain limited circumstances - for example, where a court is not sitting, say, on a Saturday; where the offence is minor; or where the court has not previously ordered that there not be a release. The Minister makes the point in his presentation speech that this ought to avoid circumstances like those that arose in the case of the person I referred to before, Mr Henry. I think that these changes would not have avoided the problem in Mr Henry's case because, in fact, Mr Henry was arrested on a Saturday anyway. There is a very good chance that he might have been held over the weekend anyway. So, probably that problem would not have been avoided. It seems to me that there need to be stronger guidelines for seeking details of a person's identity in these circumstances, where a person is pulled up in a car in these sorts of situations. That is a debate for another day. Certainly, that problem is not yet overcome, even with these amendments.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .