Downing Street Says » Sentencing-Vera Baird

Put that Vera Baird appeared to say the opposite to the Lord Chancellor about judges, the PMOS said that the Lord Chancellor and the Home Secretary had made clear the Government’s view. As a result, we were having a look at the Criminal Justice System, and the Home Secretary and the Lord Chancellor would be carrying out aspects of that. The important thing was that we recognised that there were two things that we needed to balance. On the one hand, there was legitimate public concern, and the Home Secretary had articulated that, and on the other, we had the need to maintain an independent judicial system. The important thing was that we looked and saw how we could ensure that those two remained in kilter, and that was what would happen over the next few weeks.

Asked if there was a view that the judges did not do what they should have done, or was there a view that the judges could not do what they needed to as the law did not allow them to, the PMOS replied that the important thing was that we looked to see precisely what the nature of the problem was, and that we came up with coherent responses to it. The Home Secretary was doing that kind of fundamental review across the Home Office, as was appropriate for a new Home Secretary, especially when faced with the issues that he was faced with. The Lord Chancellor would be looking at the sentencing aspects of that as well.

Asked how there could be two Ministers who had opposite views on the same subject, the PMOS replied that where there were judgements which in some way the public were concerned about, the Home Secretary had articulated concern about them. Equally, the Lord Chancellor and the Attorney General had made clear that we had an independent judicial process, and as the PMOS had said last week, we were very proud of that as a country. The important thing was that we brought the two things into line, and that was why we were having the review.

Asked if Vera Baird was still a member of the Government, the PMOS replied that she was, and a valued one at that.

Asked if Vera Baird would be reprimanded for her views, the PMOS said that she remained a member of the Government, and we looked forward to the outcome of the review process.

1 Comment »

A friend o f mine has just returned from serving a prison sentence for illegal activity. He has been out for a total of five months now, has found a job and is also doing some voluntary work. he is still currently attending probation due to his licensing conditions but has been denied a short vacation with his common law wife? i know the rules as i have been doing some research but im just a little confused as Vera Baird made a few statements in the past about the said thing yet no one seems to be listening? I was under the impression that as long as you were not a threat/or at risk to the community here or elsewhere you were ok to leave the country for a short time, he only wants to go to spain or malta yet he is being puinished still please can you forward me some information as to what he can do about this i would really appreciate your help on this. sincerly

Civil Servant/ Public member
Simone Martin
Comment by simone martin — 13 Mar 2007 on 1:49 pm | Link

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» Monday, June 19, 2006

Sentencing-Vera Baird

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