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Bribery Bill [HL]

Joint Committees are not always unanimous. On that occasion, I would have been prepared to object to a majority view if I had felt it necessary to do so. There is no need for the Attorney-General to consent to prosecutions. The consent of the head of the prosecuting department is sufficient. That was the view of the Attorney-General herself when giving evidence to the Joint Committee. The Attorney-General will still have the power to give directions and, if she has the power to give directions, I see no reason why she should also have the necessity of consenting. It is not for this Bill to decide the wider aspect of the role of the Attorney-General. I must say that I would be quite happy to see that role disappear altogether in this respect, but clearly not in the light of the Bill. Requiring consent of the Attorney-General to all prosecutions for bribery is one practice that has outlasted its time. In that respect, it is a little like the practice of the old days, when the Attorney-General had to prosecute in poisoning trials. I think that it ought to go into the same wastepaper basket as that.