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Proceeding contribution from Lord Low of Dalston (Crossbench) in the House of Lords on Thursday, 9 July 2009. It occurred during Committee of the Whole House (HL) and Debate on bill on Coroners and Justice Bill.


Coroners and Justice Bill

I wish to put a point to the noble Lord that I hope he finds helpful. One thing that has been made clear to us in the debate is that the Attorney-General’s fiat comes much too late and is not a sufficient safeguard, as a lot of the damage to people who wish to practise the right of free speech is done long before the matter comes to the prosecuting authorities or the courts or anything of that kind. The point that has been made is that the guidance is not sufficiently helpful in emphasising to the police the imperatives of free speech and that more weight should be given to that in the guidance. Does the noble Lord agree that it could be helpful to this whole issue if the Government would revisit the guidance on these questions?


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
712 c816 
Session
2008-09
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
Subjects
Crime Defamation Harassment Discrimination Forced labour Freedom of expression Religion Sexuality Slavery Homophobia
Legislation
Coroners and Justice Bill 2008-09
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk