Select committee: Justice Committee
Recommendation 12
4th Report - Covid-19 and the criminal law
Published 24 Sep 2021
Paragraph 29
Addressed to Ministry of Justice
Justice Committee Covid-19 and the criminal law All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
A lesson from the covid-19 pandemic is that Parliament should play a more active role in the creation, scrutiny and oversight of new criminal offences in response to emergencies. One of the primary functions of parliamentary scrutiny of legislation is to make the legislative process, and the law it creates, accessible and transparent. Parliament plays an important role in making sure that the law and any new criminal offences are so far as is possible intelligible, clear and predictable. It is not satisfactory in this context that Parliament was not always able to fulfil its function when Members were required to consider statutory instruments already repealed or already superseded. We recommend that the Government and the Procedure Committee of the House of Commons consider how future scrutiny of emergency regulations can be conducted in a timely fashion.
From: Justice Committee, 4th Report - Covid-19 and the criminal law (HC 71), paragraph 29, 24 September 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 8 September 2022 (deadline 24 November 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government accepts or agrees with some recommendations, including on Ministry of Justice consultation over new offences, disagrees with others, and says it will draw on the public inquiry and existing review work for lessons on future pandemics.
- On new criminal offences, the government accepts that guidance should be updated so departments consult the Ministry of Justice as a matter of course. The guidance will also set standard response timeframes and cover urgent situations, with publication "in due course".
- On explanatory memoranda for statutory instruments, it considers a specific heading for new offences "disproportionate". It will instead update existing drafting guidance so the "Policy background" section explains any new offences.
- On the single justice procedure, the Ministry of Justice states it "does not agree" with the recommendations on transparency and on a formal review of its use in COVID-19 cases, citing existing media access arrangements and safeguards.
- On fixed penalty notices, it recognises that the regime "presented challenges for enforcement and compliance". It will take this into consideration, with the public inquiry's findings, in planning for future pandemics.