My Lords, I shall move and speak to the amendments in the name of my noble friend Lord Ponsonby—this amendment and Amendments 78B and 78E, as well as Amendments 78C and 78D, which the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, has also signed.
The amendment would introduce a minimum sentence of seven years for rape, apart from cases in which the court is of the opinion that there are exceptional circumstances relating to the offence or offender that justify the court not doing so. This issue was raised in the previous debate. I should refer to my noble and learned friend Lord Falconer who spoke on this issue in Committee. I was going to be incredibly nice about him but I see that he is not here, so I shall just move on. He said:
“The framework for sentencing by the courts has to be set by Parliament. The way Parliament does this—as the two former Lord Chief Justices made clear—is by setting a maximum sentence, and the courts then reflect on what they conceive to be the justice of the case, as determined by the maximum. In exceptional cases—I use that word advisedly—it is appropriate for there to be minimum sentences as well. If there is a minimum sentence, the judge’s discretion is removed, but that is because Parliament is saying that a particular offence merits a minimum sentence except in exceptional cases … There is nothing wrong with Parliament doing that. Rape is, in our view, one of those cases.”—[Official Report, 10/11/21; col. 1807.]
The amendment does not force judges to pass unjust sentences. There should be a minimum sentence for rape, which should be departed from only in exceptional circumstances. Victims need to see this happen. The reason that we are particularly concerned about this issue is the wider context in the justice system, which we should not ignore because confidence in the justice system is at an historic low, with just one in 67 rape complainants seeing their case come to court. It can take four years for that process to be completed.
The latest data from the CPS shows that the number of rape convictions fell by 6.7% in the last quarter. There are 3,357 victims of violent and sexual crime who have already been waiting over a year for their day in court, and a further 654 victims of those horrific cases have been waiting for over two years. Victims are not reporting; too many of those who report would say that they would not report a crime
again; or they drop out of the process before any case comes to court. Parliament needs to show victims that it considers rape a crime of such seriousness that it is prepared to reflect that view in law.
Amendment 78B would introduce a maximum sentence of two years for publishing the identity of a sexual offences complainant. We are keen to test the opinion of the House on this amendment but we will, of course, listen to what the Minister has to say. This is an important issue and we should like the Government to, in some way, accept this measure. I am sure I do not need to explain to noble Lords just how distressing publication of the identity of a complainant is for the victim and their family. Fear of publication puts victims off reporting. The law understands this already and attempts to protect victims. Amendment 78B sends a signal that people who reveal names could have a sentence as high as two years. It does not say that that should happen in every case or that two years is a minimum sentence, but Parliament should mark the seriousness of this issue and the fact that people can be put under enormous pressure by the threat or fear of publicity.
In Committee, the Minister was sympathetic to the objective of this amendment and accepted that the unlawful naming of people whose identity is protected by law ought to be appropriately punished. We understand that the Attorney-General has invited the Law Commission to undertake a review of the law of contempt of court, with particular reference to the interface between that and the criminal law, including the specific breach offences under discussion today.
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Because this offence causes so much distress to the complainants affected, and because this change could be made today without delay, we ask the Minister to consider accepting this amendment. If the Government bring forward additional legislation to respond to the Law Commission recommendations, they can then extend provisions to cover perhaps a greater number of types of victims whose identity is also legally protected. We would greatly welcome that and, if it could happen at the earliest opportunity, we would welcome that too.
Amendment 78C would create a new duty on the Secretary of State to nominate a government department to have the duty to inform victims and their families of the type of sentence, the time limit for application to the unduly lenient sentence scheme and that applications should be made to the Attorney-General. Amendment 78D proposes that, in exceptional circumstances, the time limit to apply to the ULS scheme should be flexible. This should include but not be limited to where the relevant body has failed to inform the victim or their family of the scheme and their rights under it until it is too late. Unfortunately, the ULS scheme is not sufficiently well-known by victims at the moment. We want victims and their families to be informed of the type of sentence that has been passed and what rights they have under the scheme so we can avoid situations where victims find out at only the very last moment that these rights exist and are unable to take advantage of them through no fault of their own.
Amendment 78D would allow the time limit of 28 days which applies to the ULS scheme to be extended in very exceptional circumstances. We accept that it should be extended in only exceptional circumstances, which should include but not be limited to where the relevant body obliged to notify the victim or their family of the existence of the scheme has failed to do so. These amendments make the ULS scheme more effective in that a government department would have responsibility for informing the victim and there would be some flexibility in cases where something has just gone wrong and the victim is unfairly disadvantaged.
Amendment 78E would ensure that those found guilty of abduction, sexual assault and murder would receive a whole life order as a starting sentence. My noble and learned friend Lord Falconer of Thoroton argued in Committee that a whole life term should be the starting point. The judge can of course take into account other factors, but there should never be a debate about whether a whole life term could be imposed, as we have seen.
I make clear to the Minister that it is his response on Amendment 78B that we are most keenly interested in today.