Appendix
Statement agreed between the Chairman of the Committee
on Standards and Privileges, the Parliamentary Commissioner for
Standards and the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis following
their meeting on 3 April 2008
The Chairman of the House of Commons Committee on
Standards and Privileges, the Rt. Hon. Sir George Young MP, and
the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, John Lyon, met the
Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, and Assistant
Commissioner John Yates on 3 April to discuss matters relating
to the handling of complaints against Members of Parliament alleging
a breach of the Code of Conduct for Members which might also raise
questions of criminal liability.
All parties agreed that, other than in the limited
context of participation in proceedings in Parliament, Members
of Parliament are in no different position in respect of alleged
criminal behaviour than any other person. The Chairman reiterated
the Committee's belief in the general principle that criminal
proceedings against Members, where these are considered appropriate,
should take precedence over the House's own disciplinary proceedings.
The meeting discussed how the respective parties might coordinate
their activities to ensure the effective delivery of this principle.
Where the Metropolitan Police receive information
which suggests that a Member of Parliament may have committed
a criminal offence, they will take the decision on whether to
institute inquiries on their own initiative, on the same basis
as they would in any other case, and without regard to whether
the same information had formed any part of a complaint to the
Parliamentary Commissioner. The Metropolitan Police undertook
to inform the Parliamentary Commissioner in the normal course
of events if they were considering initiating criminal inquiries
into a Member, with a view to establishing whether the alleged
conduct was also the subject of a complaint under the Code.
The Parliamentary Commissioner confirmed that he
had regard, where appropriate, to the possibility of criminal
behaviour when investigating complaints he received against Members
of Parliament. He would continue the practice in specific cases
of liaising with the Metropolitan Police or other relevant force
whenever he considered it appropriate to do so, initiating the
process at the earliest opportunity. All parties welcomed this.
If at any point in his investigation of a complaint,
the Parliamentary Commissioner considers that there are sufficient
grounds to justify reporting the matter to the police for them
to consider a criminal inquiry, he confirmed that he would submit
a recommendation to that effect to the Committee on Standards
and Privileges, who would decide whether such a report should
be made. Where this was done, the Chairman confirmed that the
Committee would normally expect the Parliamentary Commissioner
to suspend his inquiries until the question of possible criminal
proceedings had been resolved. The Parliamentary Commissioner
and the Committee would follow similar procedures if informed
by the police that they are considering initiating criminal inquiries
into a matter which was also the subject of a complaint.
The Chairman also confirmed that if in the course
of the Committee's consideration of the outcome of the Commissioner's
investigation of a complaint it concluded that there were sufficient
grounds to justify a report to the police, it would normally expect
to advise the House accordingly, and defer reporting substantively
on the complaint until the question of possible criminal proceedings
had been resolved.
All parties agreed that this had been a useful meeting
which had clarified the arrangements and respective interests
and responsibilities. It was agreed that these would guide the
parties for the future.
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