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Written question asked by John Hemming (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 18 March 2015, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 25 March 2015 (named day). It was answered by Shailesh Vara (Conservative) on Wednesday, 25 March 2015 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Contempt of Court

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the letter sent on 2 February 2015 to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley by HM Courts and Tribunals Service's Performance, Analysis and Reporting Team, what the (a) name of the judge, (b) date, (c) period of committal and (d) court was of each court order issued by courts in Bristol for contempt of court since November 2014.

Answer

Details of contempt of court hearings are not always held on Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) case management systems, and HMCTS do not centrally collate data on contempt of court cases. Contempt of court can cover a variety of circumstances and can be committed by a party in a case or by someone unconnected with specific proceedings such as a juror or a member of the public. Those relating to a specific case will be noted on the court log or daily list and any warrant retained on file. Those not relating to a specific case will be recorded on daily lists and any warrants stored along with other orders. Local practices vary as to how contempts of court are recorded and stored.

HMCTS have checked records of cases heard since November 2014 in relation to Bristol County Court, High Court sitting at Bristol and Bristol Family Court. For those courts, HMCTS has identified cases where committal orders were made for imprisonment for contempt of court. Details are contained in the table below. The contemnors may not have been present at court and therefore may not necessarily have begun their term of imprisonment straight away. This data is management information and has been collated specifically to answer this question.

Court

Judge

Date

Period

Bristol County Court

Deputy District Judge Paddison

27/11/14

4 weeks

Bristol County Court

Deputy District Judge Hall

5/12/14

12 weeks

It has not been possible to provide information in relation to Bristol Crown Court or Bristol Magistrates’ Court. Data is not recorded in a way that enables HMCTS to identify all such cases without checking every case file and every daily list since 1 November, which would involve disproportionate costs.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
228037
Session
2014-15
Subjects
Court orders Bristol Contempt of court
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk