Clause 3 - Judicial Appointments Commission
Justice (Northern Ireland)
10:00 am
Mr Crispin Blunt (Reigate, Conservative)
I do not want to follow the hon. Lady down the path of discussing the respective merit of men and women. We are not talking about democratic selection through the political parties or through the democratic process. Judicial selection and merit are different issues, but they do not go to the kernel of the amendment. The amendment invites the Committee to decide whether we should try to make the commission more representative by giving greater latitude to the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister, or whether we should insist that a duty be placed on those Ministers solely with respect to the representativeness of those five members of the Commission. I hope that the hon. Lady will address that question. In advocating the amendment, I am not arguing about representativeness.