00:00Many of the cases that I'm aiming at in this guidance involve public order offences involving threats and abuse.
00:10The Community Security Trust say that actually over 50% of anti-Semitic incidents involve abuse of that kind.
00:18These cases can be dealt with in the magistrates' court,
00:21and we find that three-quarters of cases actually involve guilty pleas at the first hearing.
00:26So potentially cases involving relatively minor, but I don't underestimate the seriousness of them,
00:35cases will be dealt with swiftly in the courts.
00:38Since late March, there have been a series of arson attacks at Jewish sites in London,
00:44as well as a double stabbing in Golders Green that is being treated as an act of terrorism.
00:50Counter-terrorism police have also said officers were investigating a suspected arson attack
00:58at a former synagogue in Whitechapel, which is believed to have occurred in the early hours of Tuesday.
01:05Well, the essence of this guidance is to require prosecutors to make swift decisions,
01:12and they will do that as long as they're satisfied that they've got the core evidence which satisfies the test
01:21for prosecution.
01:23Often when we undertake casework, we want cases to be in the best possible state,
01:27and so we ask for evidence that isn't required in order to make a prosecution decision,
01:33but is needed in order to strengthen the case.
01:35The big change from the guidance that I'm issuing today is that, no, once you reach that point
01:42where you've got the core evidence which enables you to be satisfied
01:46that there's a realistic prospect to the conviction, then we prosecute.
01:50And if we can strengthen the case thereafter, we will do so.
01:54The thought behind the guidance is simply that we need to give extra priority
01:59to cases involving anti-Semitism, and indeed hate crime more generally, because of the rise in it.
02:07If I can give an example, there are a number of incidents that everyone is aware
02:14of extreme violence or damage committed recently.
02:18What is perhaps less well-known is that every time that happens,
02:22there is an uptick in terms of anti-Semitic behaviour.
02:26And I'm afraid we've got locked into a cycle in recent times,
02:30a pattern whereby this is gradually increasing.
02:33So what I want to do by issuing this guidance and making sure that decisions are made quickly
02:39is to stop this in its tracks, in particular to stop the sort of low-level abuse,
02:44which is in danger of becoming normalised,
02:47and therefore the significance of it is being minimised.
02:53By taking a zero-tolerance approach, which is what I'm aiming to do with this guidance,
02:57I'm hoping we can put a line in the sand.
02:59And...
03:00And...
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