November 6, 2007: Queen's Speech and Criminal Justice

The Queen's speech at the opening of Parliament offered some indication of the future direction of criminal justice developments. In a speech with a focus on counter-terrorism , the queen stated:

 'My government will seek a consensus on changes to the law on terrorism, so that the police and other agencies have the powers they need to protect the public, while preserving essential rights and liberties.'

Among other area, the speech addressed the proposed counter-terrorism bill and the criminal justice and immigration bill. The counter-terrorism bill would allow for a possible extension of the current pre-charge detention limit of 28 days (it is currently unclear as to how long this period may be extended). Other counter-terrorism changes include:

• enabling post-charge questioning of terrorism suspects
• allowing the drawing of 'adverse inferences' from refusals to say something, which can later be relied on in court
• allowing police and intelligence services to make full use of DNA
• ensuring convicted terrorists provide police with personal information when they are released from prison
• banning convicted terrorists from travelling overseas

A criminal justice and immigration bill would introduce violent offenders orders to place restrictions on the activities of convicted criminals after they're released from jail. Other aspects of the bill include:

• allowing non-dangerous criminals who breach the terms of their release to be jailed for only 28 days, rather than serving out the full length of their original sentence
• creating a new immigration status for people convicted of terrorism or other serious offences
• banning the possession of 'extreme' pornographic images available on the internet, but not currently covered by the Obscene Publications Act
• amending the law on self-defence, to ensure people who act with 'reasonable force' to protect themselves, others, or their property are fully protected by the law

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