asked the Attorney-General on how many occasions in each of the last five years the High Court has (a) heard an application for a writ for habeas corpus and (b) granted such application; and in how many of those cases the respondent was (a) the Metropolitan Police, (b) other police forces, (c) hospital authorities and (d) prison authorities.

Statistics relating to prerogative proceedings, including writs of habeas corpus, are contained in the Civil Judicial Statistics which are published annually and presented to Parliament.Information relating to the respondent in these cases is not available and could not be obtained without a disproportionate expenditure of the time of the staff of the Crown Office of the Royal Courts of Justice.