Clause 1 - Guarantee of continued judicial independence
Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill
12:00 pm
Mr Crispin Blunt (Reigate, Conservative)
Obviously, I am disappointed that our array of arguments has failed to convince the Minister, but I note that he has yet to see the Law Society for a discussion about his concerns. I do not share his concerns, also articulated by the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire, about the consequences for regulation. The answer lies in what the Minister said about his own experience on the Council of the Law Society of Scotland. He argued that self-regulation was important because the profession used it as a means of guarding its independence. The hon. Member for Montgomeryshire produced the test: what happens when a member of the legal profession has obviously not been independent? Will the Government then have to introduce a vast array of regulations to sustain the profession's independence?
The whole Committee is agreed on the intention behind the amendment and the principle that the legal profession must be independent. Trying to define exactly what ''independence'' means causes the same difficulties faced by the Minister in trying to define all who have the responsibility for the administration of justice. Many people working for the Court Service in many different capacities have such a responsibility in sustaining the court system in Northern Ireland—or anywhere else, for that matter. Duties can be interpreted widely and people know what independence means.