Clause 1 - Guarantee of continued judicial independence
Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill
11:00 am
Mr Des Browne (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Northern Ireland Office; Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Labour)
I am grateful to all hon. Members for their acceptance of the principle that underlies the clause—including my hon. Friend the Member for Newry and Armagh. He has been reminded at least twice that it is not the most important amendment, but it is one of those amendments that resulted from the extensive consultation exercise, and it comes as no surprise.
I thank the hon. and learned Member for Harborough (Mr. Garnier) for his kind words. I remember with pleasure our debates in Committee on the International Criminal Court Bill. If our debates in this Committee are of the same quality, we shall be satisfied. I do not share the hon. and learned Gentleman's view that the amendment would necessarily generate the contention or distaste that has been attributed to it. My hon. Friend went to great lengths to make it clear that he was not expressly criticising the independence of any of the current judiciary in Northern Ireland, nor did I hear him utter a word of criticism of any previous members. My experience of him is not as extensive as that of some other members of the Committee, but I know that he is no shrinking violet, and if he had something to say
on the subject he would have said it. Therefore, I suspect that he was not criticising the judiciary and did not intend to do so, but he can speak for himself.
It is helpful to have this opportunity to address constructively some areas of contention in the Bill. Some divisions of opinion may be strongly expressed, but I hope that we do so without descending to the level of criticism that has dogged some of the politics of Northern Ireland in the past.
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for introducing the amendment, although he will not be surprised if I try to persuade him to withdraw it. If he does not do so, I shall urge the Committee to resist it.
The Bill requires those with responsibility for the administration of justice to uphold the continued independence of the judiciary. On a plain reading of the review, that is its recommendation, which it made simply because of the paramount importance of an independent judiciary. Clearly, the reference to the
''continued independence of the judiciary''
implies that the judiciary is currently independent.
I listened carefully to what my hon. Friend said about making a new start and the dangers of dragging in some of the history of the administration of justice in Northern Ireland. I do not reject his basic sentiment that this is an opportunity for a fresh start, but removing the reference to ''continuing'' independence would imply that the serving judiciary and those who have served in those posts in the past are or were not independent. I do not know whether that is his intention, but the implication is completely untrue and should be resisted. For those reasons, the word ''continued'' should be retained.
I hope that my hon. Friend will be persuaded to withdraw the amendment. We have debated the issues and he has had an opportunity to air his views, to which all members of the Committee listened with care.