House of Lords debate legislative amendment on music evidence co-authored by Dr Abenaa Owusu-Bempah

On 11 February, the House of Lords debated a clause on “Creative and artistic expression: admissibility in criminal proceedings”, tabled as an amendment to the Victims and Courts Bill by Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, and sponsored by Baroness Doreen Lawrence.

Dr Abenaa Owusu-Bempah and other members of Art Not Evidence drafted the Criminal Evidence (Creative and Artistic Expression) Bill in response to a growing number of criminal cases in which rap music is used to suggest motive, intention, and criminal propensity, despite limited evidential value. Most defendants in these cases are Black young men and boys accused of ‘joint enterprise’ and gang-related offending, where 'rap evidence’ can fill evidential gaps and reinforce racist stereotypes.

Ahead of the debate, more than 60 of the UK’s most senior legal and cultural voices wrote to the Justice Secretary, urging the Government to back the new statutory safeguard. They included Chair of the Criminal Bar Association, Riel Karmy-Jones KC, and rap artist, Giggs.

At the debate, there was clear cross-party concern about the current approach to music evidence. Peers from across the House supported restrictions on the admission of music lyrics and videos in court. Lord Bailey of Paddington summed up the problem powerfully, drawing on his experience as a youth worker, to underline the danger of interpreting artistic expression literally: “much of the bragging and the boasting is simply that: bragging and boasting about fictitious situations that they hope they will never be in and that we also hope they will never be in. To present that in court as some kind of evidence of their associations and their behaviour is a slippery slope.”

Baroness Lawrence reminded the House that, "It is not new in our system to try to ensure that prejudice associated with criminal evidence should not outweigh its probative value, nor, unfortunately, is it new to find the police and the prosecution system working against people of colour when they should be protecting everyone from all our diverse communities equally."

In attendance at the debate were four students from the Legal Advice Centre Policy Clinic - Sara Gabrielli, Melissa Limani, Sade Rutter, and Honey Yakubb - along with Centre Director, Diana Kirsch and Dr Abenaa Owusu-Bempah. They are part of a group of students who submitted a detailed response to the recent Crown Prosecution Service consultation on '“gang” related offences and musical expression in evidence'. While the Lords Minister, Baroness Levitt, indicated that the Government will await the outcome of the CPS consultation before considering legislative change, Baroness Chakrabarti replied that "It is not for the Crown Prosecution Service to mark its own homework". The issue will be pursued at Report stage.

You can watch the debate here and read Shami Chakrabrti’s op-ed in the Guardian here.