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Coroners and Justice Bill

My Lords, the new clauses that are inserted by Amendments 191AZA and 191AZB amend Section 11 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968, and the equivalent legislation in Northern Ireland, so that where the Court of Appeal quashes a confiscation order, it may, as an alternative to making a new order itself, direct the Crown Court to consider whether a new order should be made, and if so what the order should be. The reason for these provisions is a problem that has come to light in a recent case called Chambers that potentially affects a large number of other cases. These are cases in which confiscation orders may be liable to be quashed on appeal as having been inadvertently made by reference to regulations that had been superseded. The error does not mean that no order can be made. There is a power under Section 11 of the 1968 Act for the Court of Appeal to, ""make such an order as the sentencing court would have had the power to make"," and the court could use that power to make a substitute order by reference to the correct regulations, but there is concern that the burden of doing so in a significant number of cases might lead to unacceptable delays in hearing other, perhaps more important, appeals. The amendment to Section 11 of the Criminal Appeal Act would therefore give the Court of Appeal the power to remit cases to the Crown Court, where a confiscation order is quashed as a result of a successful appeal by the defence. The Crown Court would then determine whether a new confiscation order should be made, and its terms. The amendment ensures that, in doing so, the court would have to take account of any sums that may already have been paid under the terms of the original confiscation order. No fresh order made under Section 11 can treat the defendant more severely than the original one. Amendment 221DA has the effect of making the new arrangements apply to appeals that are still pending when the Bill is passed. Amendment 222A is consequential on the main amendments. I commend these amendments to the Committee. I beg to move.