Clause 27 - Annual report by Attorney General
Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill
6:00 pm
Mr Des Browne (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Northern Ireland Office; Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Labour)
I have no comfort to offer the hon. Lady. The amendments would clarify that the First Minister and Deputy First Minister must exercise their functions jointly with regard to the Attorney-General's annual report. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Reigate for introducing the amendments.
My hon. Friend the Member for Newry and Armagh, who tabled the amendments, may not thank me for drawing attention to the fact that he had to leave our sitting or else he would have pursued the amendments himself. I am sorry that I will disappoint the hon. Member for North Down, but I am grateful for the opportunity to respond to the points that have been raised.
This is the appropriate part of the Bill to discuss the amendments, although my hon. Friend the Member for Newry and Armagh sought to table them on another clause. The Government's argument is that, under subsection (4), the Bill already requires the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to act jointly in connection with the annual report of the Attorney-General. I am advised that whether the words are included is a drafting matter. Since subsection (5) relates to subsection (4) under which the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister are constrained to act jointly, it is not necessary to repeat that under subsection (5) because their duties under subsection (5) can be carried out only in the context of subsection (4).
Mr. Blunt rose—