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Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

The noble Lord raises the issue of the effect of the orders on those under the age of 18. I confirm that we will table such amendments. We cannot overlook the fact that a small number of serious and violent offenders will be under the age of 18 and, perhaps even more significantly, that the majority of these young people may pose a risk of serious violent harm to other young people, whom the Government have a duty to protect. However, let me make it clear that it is for these reasons that we still believe that violent offender orders should in principle apply to both adults and young people. We acknowledge that, in practice, most young offenders convicted of a serious violent offence, who are therefore potential candidates for violent offender orders, will be 18 or over by the time they would have completed their sentence for one of the trigger offences. We are therefore content, for the time being, to limit the application of Part 9 to adult violent offenders and review the position in a few years’ time, once the violent offender order approach has bedded in. It is always wise to reflect on how these things are working, just as we do from time to time with ASBOs and, no doubt, will do with other similarly structured orders. We give a commitment to table government amendments on Report, and I hope that the noble Lord, having heard that, will see fit to withdraw his amendment.