Member

I turn to Amendment 23, in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, who has identified a very real problem with the victim right of review scheme—and it is one which, as she knows, has troubled me personally for a number of years. If the prosecution offers no evidence without notifying the victim first then the victim right of review is rendered nugatory because the case cannot be revived—it is finished. Even if the prosecutor’s decision turns out to have been wrong, nothing can be done. To paraphrase a legal truism: if there is no remedy, it is not much of a right. Once again, I thank the noble Baroness for putting the spotlight on a really important point. Where we disagree is on whether extending the power to discontinue is the right way to deal with the issue.