Member

This is an important issue. It is not the most important issue in connection with this Bill, but it is important that, as attitudes in society change, so laws are changed and Parliament and judges reflect those changes. Where such changes would mean, or would have meant, a more lenient view being taken of an offender’s offences than was in fact taken, that offender should have the benefit of such change and not be denied it. It is even more important that a person who has been sentenced for an offence that has been abolished should not continue to be punished for such an offence that no longer exists. That deals with Amendment 138 in principle.