How can the Home Office make the most of the consultation process for PACE reform? Michael Zander QC reports
The Home Office published a summary of responses to its consultation exercise on the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) on 31 July 2007.
The consultation was launched on 16 March 2007. The consultation paper, Modernising Police Powers, had nine substantive pages raising a longish list of topics and possible ideas. Views were sought by 31 May 2007.
It turns out, however, that this is merely the first stage in a lengthy process. In a covering note to the summary of responses, the Home Office stated that the fruits of this consultation would be used to guide phase 2, which would consist of “regional seminars with stakeholders and practitioners and a programme of bilateral meetings with key stakeholders”.
The aim of these meetings is “to establish the evidence for and practical benefits of change and to look at the impact of implementation and delivery”. More prosaically, this might be rephrased “the aim of the
