Crime

This page highlights some of the current parliamentary material available on crime. This includes select committee reports, briefing papers on current legislation and other subjects produced by the parliamentary research services, and the latest Early Day Motions put down by MPs.

Standard Notes

Date	Description
01.03.2013	Why has crime fallen around the world?: Social Indicators article
	A brief examination of the possible reasons for declining crime rates. This is an article in the March 2013 edition of the Social Indicators research paper.
28.02.2013	Crime: Social Indicators page
	Crime: Social Indicators page. By Gavin Berman and Roderick McInnes. SN/SG/2617.
14.02.2013	Domestic violence
	Domestic violence accounted for 15% of all violent incidents in 2011/12. Nearly one third of women and nearly one fifth of men say they have experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16. This standard note looks at the Goverment's policy on this area.
06.02.2013	Extradition and the European Arrest Warrant - Recent Developments
	This note is designed to complement two earlier Standard Notes on extradition namely: 'The UK/US Extradition Treaty' (SN/HA/2204) and 'The introduction of the European Arrest Warrant' (SN/HA/1703) which each set out background information to the introduction of the current extradition regime (governed by the Extradition Act 2003).
05.02.2013	Reductions in sentence for a guilty plea
	Offenders who plead guilty in court will usually receive a reduced sentence compared to that they would have received had they been convicted following a not guilty plea. The maximum discount is currently one third. This note describes the rationale for reduced sentences for those who plead guilty.

Research Papers

Date	Description
01.03.2013	Social Indicators
	A compendium of the latest social statistics. This edition includes articles on: Why has crime fallen around the world?; International Year of Statistics.
09.01.2013	Crime and Courts Bill [HL]
	The Bill would establish a new National Crime Agency and make a number of changes to the administration of justice. It also deals with the law of self defence as it applies to householders defending themselves from intruders; makes changes to community sentences and to immigration appeal rights; and introduces a new drug driving offence.
29.11.2012	Police and Crime Commissioner Elections, 2012
	On Thursday 15 November 2012 the first ever elections for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) took place in England and Wales, outside of London. The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 replaced police authorities with directly elected PCCs. The 41 police areas each elected one PCC. The supplementary vote system was used for the elections. This Research Paper analyses the results
23.11.2012	Reducing reoffending: the "what works" debate
	This paper examines the evidence for the effectiveness of prison and programmes in the community aimed at reducing reoffending and some of the claims and counter-claims for whether 'prison works'.
06.11.2012	Scrap Metal Dealers Bill: Committee Stage Report
	It is thought that scrap metal dealers are the main outlet for stolen metal and that the existing regulatory regime for dealers fails to discourage the trade in stolen metal. Richard Ottaway's Private Member's Bill, The Scrap Metal Dealers Bill 2012, will introduce a more robust licensing regime to disrupt the trade in stolen metal. The Bill has cross party support. Its Report Stage is due on 9 November 2012.

Select Committee Reports

Date	Description
31.10.2011	Government response to the seventh report of the Science and Technology Select Committee on the Forensic...
	Government response. Science and Technology Select Committee report [Commons]
05.07.2011	Draft sentencing guidelines: drugs and burglary.
	Justice Select Committee report [Commons]
22.06.2011	Forensic Science Service.
	Science and Technology Select Committee report [Commons]
08.03.2011	The National DNA Database.
	Government response. Home Affairs Select Committee; Home Office report [Commons]
18.01.2011	Money laundering: data protection for suspicious activity reports.
	European Union Select Committee (HL) report [Lords]

Early Day Motions

Date	Description
11.01.2012	DISTRACTION BURGLARIES
	That this House notes the rise of so-called distraction burglaries on vulnerable elderly people; expresses condemnation on those who would carry out these attacks; calls on the police ...
02.11.2011	THEFT OF METALS FROM WAR MEMORIALS AND PLACES OF WORSHIP
	That this House notes with concern the recent spate of reports of metal thefts from war memorials and places of worship; denounces recent thefts such as the four foot bronze statue ...
15.09.2011	MOBILE TELEPHONE THEFTS
	That this House notes that customers are liable for the cost of telephone calls incurred on their mobile telephones after they are stolen and before the theft is noticed and reported; ...
05.09.2011	SCRAP METAL THEFT
	That this House notes with concern the increasing prevalence of scrap metal theft; denounces the recent desecration of the Civilian War Memorial in Portsmouth's Kingston Cemetery and ...
14.07.2011	DRIVING WHEN TIRED
	That this House notes that driving after little sleep, or failing to take regular breaks duringlong drives, is lethal, with one in five fatal crashes on motorways and other monotonous ...

Lords Library Notes

Date	Description
23.01.2012	Question for Short Debate on 2 February: Human Trafficking
	This Lords Library Note provides definitions of human trafficking, statistics on its incidence, and an outline of domestic and international policy to combat the problem.
03.11.2011	Protection of Freedoms Bill (HL Bill 99 of 2010-12)
	This Library Note provides background information in advance of the Protection of Freedoms Bill's second reading in the House of Lords.
07.04.2011	Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill (HL Bill 62 of 2010-11)
	This Library Note provides background reading for the second reading debate of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill.
14.03.2011	Debate on 17 March: Bribery, Tax Avoidance, Corruption and Money Laundering
	This Library Note provides background reading for the debate on the UK's record on legislation regarding bribery, tax avoidance, corruption and money laundering.
08.10.2010	Debate on 14 October 2010: Human trafficking. LLN 2010/022
	Debate on 14 October 2010: Human trafficking. House of Lords Library Note 2010/022
24.03.2010	Crime and Security Bill (HL Bill 45 of 2009-10). LLN 2010/010
	Crime and Security Bill (HL Bill 45 of 2009-10) The Crime and Security Bill is wide-ranging. It contains provisions to reduce the reporting requirements on the police when they stop and search individuals; to set out a statutory framework for the retention and destruction of biometric material, including DNA data; to provide the police with the power to issue 'go' notices to alleged perpetrators of domestic violence; to extend injunctions for gang-related violence to 14-17 year-olds; to require courts to make parenting orders when a young person breaches an ASBO; to introduce a licensing scheme for wheel-clamping businesses; to create a new criminal offence of possessing a mobile phone in prison; to create a new offence of failing to take reasonable precautions to prevent a person under 18 from having unauthorised access to an air weapon; to compensate the victims of overseas terrorism; to enable licensing authorities to restrict the sale of alcohol between 3am and 6am; and to give the police new powers to search a person subject to a control order. The Bill has completed its passage through the House of Commons and is due for a second reading debate in the House of Lords on 29th March 2010. This House of Lords Library Note focuses on the debates on the retention and destruction of DNA data on the National DNA Database. It also gives brief details of the other parts of the Bill that were discussed at report stage in the Commons.

POST Papers

Date	Description
01.10.2006	Computer crime,October 2006
	Computer crime, October 2006. POSTnote 06/271.