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Secret inquest plans reintroduced Secret inquest plans brought back
(about 2 hours later)
Ministers are reintroducing measures to hold some inquests in secret on national security grounds. Plans to exclude relatives, juries and the press from some inquests - on national security grounds - are being brought back by ministers.
The new bill covering coroners, murder laws, witness protection and sentencing comes months after the secret inquest plans were dropped in Parliament. They come in a new bill covering coroners, murder laws, witness protection and sentencing. Just months ago, similar plans were shelved.
The Ministry of Justice says the secret inquests will prevent sensitive intelligence material leaking. The government says secret inquests, which many oppose, would prevent intelligence details from leaking out.
When the idea was first introduced - in last year's Counter Terrorism Act - it faced widespread opposition. The bill also proposes abolishing the provocation defence in murder cases.
The Coroners and Justice Bill is one of the largest pieces of legislation produced by the Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for law, the courts and penal system. Other proposals in the Coroners and Justice Bill, which has been introduced by the Ministry of Justice include:
A major part of the bill covers reforms of the inquest system, with the creation of the office of the chief coroner to monitor standards and changes to allow military inquests to be held nearer the family home of dead service personnel. Holding [inquests] in secret, with coroners hand-picked by the government, would be another blow to our civil liberties David Howarth, Liberal Democrat shadow justice secretary • Witness anonymity measures for major gun and knife-crime cases, where witnesses face rerprisals unless protected
But the most controversial move will see ministers try for the second time to make some inquests take place in secret. • A new sentencing council aimed at more consistency in prison terms in England and Wales, which would help plan the number of cells needed
Under the proposals, the press and public would be banned from inquests where the government can successfully argue that some of the circumstances of the death must be kept secret on national security grounds. • A new scheme to stop criminals making money from their memoirs.
Opposition parties last year launched a campaign to block the move saying that it was hugely damaging to the independence of the coroners' system, one of the cornerstones of legal openness in the UK. • Clarification of suicide law to ensure that encouraging someone online to kill themselves is a punishable offence
Ministers dropped the plans from counter terrorism legislation - but said that they would reintroduce them in the New Year, promising greater judicial oversight of any secret hearings. • Military inquests to be held close to the family rather than the point of repatriation
Under the new proposals, a decision by the Secretary of State to hold a secret inquest will be subject to judicial review. The Lord Chief Justice would then appoint a High Court Judge to preside if the hearings take place behind closed doors. • Ensuring that time spent in prison for motoring offences is not counted in the length of time driving bans run for
Liberal Democrat shadow justice secretary, David Howarth called on the government to "let go" of the proposals on inquests, which he said were "dangerous". • Creating a new post of Chief Coroner for England and Wales.
Oversight promise
Plans for secret inquests faced widespread opposition when first introduced in last year's Counter Terrorism Act.
Under the proposals, the press and public would be banned from inquests if the government says some of the circumstances of the death must be kept secret on national security grounds.
Ministers dropped the plans after opposition in Parliament, but pledged to reintroduce them in the New Year, promising greater judicial oversight .
The new proposals mean any decision by a minister to hold a secret inquest will be subject to judicial review. The Lord Chief Justice would appoint a High Court Judge to preside at any hearings taking place behind closed doors.
Liberal Democrat shadow justice secretary, David Howarth called the inquest proposals "dangerous".
"Many of us had hoped that ministers had seen sense after the plans were dropped from the Counter Terrorism Bill."Many of us had hoped that ministers had seen sense after the plans were dropped from the Counter Terrorism Bill.
“Inquests allow the government to be held to account for deaths at the hands of the state. Holding them in secret, with coroners hand-picked by the government, would be another blow to our civil liberties,” he said.“Inquests allow the government to be held to account for deaths at the hands of the state. Holding them in secret, with coroners hand-picked by the government, would be another blow to our civil liberties,” he said.
Sentencing council Homicide law
A proposed new sentencing council for England and Wales will be charged with ensuring that guidelines on prison terms become more consistent across the country, helping the Prison Service to better plan its resources. The Ministry of Justice said proposed changes to homicide laws meant "those who kill out of anger face up to their crimes and the distress they have caused the families of their victims.
Calls for the council first came two years ago amid massive population pressures - but the proposed measures do not mean that sentences will be shortened if the number of available cells falls. "The existing partial defence of provocation is too generous to those who kill in anger, and poorly tailored to killings in response to fear," it added.
Other measures in the bill would allow anonymous witness evidence to be used in gang and gun-related trials. The two partial defences to replace provocation would be killing in response to a fear of serious violence and killing in response to "words or actions" which caused the defendant to have a justifiable sense of being "seriously wronged". Holding [inquests] in secret, with coroners hand-picked by the government, would be another blow to our civil liberties David Howarth, Liberal Democrat shadow justice secretary
Parliament passed emergency legislation providing witness protection after an important legal ruling halted a trial in 2008. This emergency legislation will now be placed on a permanent legal footing. Anyone who discovered their partner was having an affair could not claim they had been "seriously wronged".
Ministers are also revealing plans to reform the law around homicide - following a long and complex debate among legal experts. Current laws require victims of domestic violence to have acted on the spur of the moment, but the new law would allow them to cite the "slow burn" of attacks over a period of time.
Some experts have called for the end to mandatory life sentences for some killers. The government has stopped short of accepting that proposal. A successful defence would see them punished for manslaughter rather than murder.
Ministers have also pledged to ban convicted criminals from profiteering from their past life by making money from their memoirs. Prison pressures
The proposed new sentencing council for England and Wales will be charged with ensuring that guidelines on prison terms become more consistent from court to court, helping the Prison Service to better plan its resources.
Calls for the council first came two years ago, amid massive prison population pressures. But the proposals do not mean that sentences will be shortened if the number of available cells falls.
Measures in the bill to allow anonymous witness evidence to be used in gang and gun-related trials would make permanent, emergency legislation passed in 2008.