THE Conservatives sought to reinforce their traditional position as
the party of law and order when
Michael Howard unveiled to the conference what he called ''the most
comprehensive programme of action against crime that has ever been
announced by any Home Secretary.''
It contained 27 specific changes in the law of England and Wales, with
its centrepiece the intention to abolish the centuries-old ''right to
silence'' of an accused person.
A senior Home Office source said later it was hoped to include this
change in a Criminal Justice Bill to be presented to the next session of
Parliament beginning in November.
Other measures included greater stop-and-search powers for police
against terrorism; tougher penalties for persistent young offenders; and
new rules allowing police to take DNA samples in all recordable offences
A Scottish Office spokesman said last night that Scottish Secretary
Ian Lang would study the proposals carefully to see if there were
implications for Scotland.
The spokesman said the Scottish criminal justice system was currently
under review.
The first consultation
paper, issued in June, contained a proposal to cut the amount of time
wasted in court, including sentence discounting for people who pleaded
guilty at an earlier stage. Further papers on the role of juries and
verdicts available, including the not proven verdict, were to be issued
this autumn.
There were no current plans to abolish the right to silence in
Scotland, as was intended in England and Wales.
On the DNA announcement, the taking of samples in Scotland had been
reviewed and changes were introduced this year. Intimate samples, for
whatever purpose, required a warrant under Scots common law. Again, Mr
Howard's speech would be studied to see if further changes were needed.
The spokesman said that while it would be for Scottish Secretary Ian
Lang to announce any changes for Scotland he did not expect there would
be ''any great differences of approach.''
It was clear from the debate before Mr Howard spoke that his
portmanteau of tough measures came just in time. Speaker after speaker
protested angrily at the apparent impunity with which criminals, not
least juveniles, were able to flout the law and the inadequacy of the
law enforcement system.
Mr Howard said an accused person would retain the right to refuse to
answer questions. The change would be that the prosecution and Judge or
magistrate would be allowed to comment on it.
He added ''The so called right to silence is ruthlessly exploited by
terrorists. ''What fools they must think we are. It's time to call a
halt to this charade.''
The balance of the criminal justice system had been tilted too far in
favour of the criminal and against the protection of the public. ''I
want to make sure that it is criminals who are frightened not law
abiding members of the public.''
He continued: ''Yobs who break the law shouldn't be taken on holidays
abroad -- they should be cleaning up their communities at home. Let's
get them picking up litter and scrubbing off graffiti.''
In rape cases, the requirement for the Judge to warn the jury of the
danger of convicting on the woman's evidence alone would be abolished.
Mr Howard said: ''The other day a woman Judge said she almost choked
every time she gave it. It is offensive. It cannot be justified.''
He said his proposals might mean more people in prison. ''I do not
flinch from that. We shall no longer judge the success of our system of
justice by a fall in our prison population.''
Rarely has a Tory Home Secretary given the conference so much of what
it demanded. Mr Howard was rewarded with the longest ministerial ovation
of the conference and a quick pat on the back from Mr Major.
Howard's way
THE measures announced by Home Secretary Michael Howard to combat
crime in England and Wales included:
Four new prisons, on top of two already announced.
Faster court procedures for evicting squatters.
New powers for the police to stop trespassers disrupting lawful
activities, including country sports.
A new offence of gathering information for terrorist purposes and of
possessing anything that gives reasonable suspicion of being connected
to terrorist activities.
New rules allowing police to take DNA samples in all recordable
offences.
A Criminal Cases Review Authority to look at miscarriages of justice.
Abolition of Judges' mandatory warnings to juries in rape trials about
the truthfulness of women.
New offence of witness intimidation.
Urine testing for drugs in prisons.
Doubling the maximum sentence in young offender institutions to two
years.
Accepting all 16 recommendations of the recent inquiry into cutting
police paperwork, releasing more policemen for active duty.
Accepting the 11 recommendations on victims of crime from the Royal
Commission on Criminal Justice, including better court procedures and
facilities and consultation over bail decisions.
Secure training centres to be set up for persistent offenders aged
1214.
A review to toughen up sentences in the community.
Abolition of the right to silence.
New guidelines to end repeat cautioning and cautioning for indictable
offences, except
in some exceptional circumstances.
Allowing retrials where juries have been nobbled.
Automatic custody for anyone convicted of rape, manslaughter or
murder, or attempting any of those offences, who is subsequently accused
of the same category of crime.
Pilot schemes for parish constables to tackle rural crime
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article