Lord Morris of Aberavon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Morris of Aberavon on 2015-12-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Home Secretary will discuss with the police whether a protocol should be agreed to rationalise and improve on the present system of names of persons interviewed by the police but not charged being made public on a case by case basis.

Lord Bates

The decision to release the name or details of a suspect in an investigation is an operational one for the police to take.

The College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice (APP) ‘Guidance on ‘Relationships with the Media’, which was developed in full consultation with the police, makes clear that decisions on releasing the names of those who are arrested or suspected of a crime should be made on a case by case basis and that the police should not do so unless there are clearly identified circumstances to justify it, such as threat to life or the prevention or detection of crime. This guidance will be reviewed by the College early in the New Year.

It is the Government’s position that, in general, there should be a right to anonymity before the point of charge. However, there are circumstances where the police decide it is in the public interest that an arrested suspect should be named.