Member

In any event, I do not believe that the amendment will have the desired effect because the criminal practice directions and a significant body of case law already provide the legal basis for the VPS in the context of sentencing. Criminal practice directions are issued by judges, not Ministers, and the legal position is then reflected in publicly available guidance. The Secretary of State for Justice is not responsible for any of these pieces of guidance; nor have they previously issued such guidance. To us, this reflects the proper division of powers in a constitutional sense.