Schedule 2 - Judicial Appointments Commission
Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill
2:30 pm
Mr Des Browne (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Northern Ireland Office; Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Labour)
I am grateful to the hon. and learned Gentleman for inviting me to list the circumstances, but I do not think that it would be particularly helpful, for the reason to which he alluded—I suspect that he agrees with me. When a statutory discretion is given to people such as the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in the context of devolution, it is not for me, as a Westminster Minister, to issue guidance to them on when they should exercise it. I have repeatedly said that I trust in devolution and I trust the devolved Administration to exercise their judicial functions appropriately. I have no reason to believe that they will not.
The inclusion of the catch-all phrase in paragraph 4(d) is understandable, because of the many possible sets of circumstances that might lead to a person's dismissal being considered appropriate. However, it is not for me to list the circumstances that may apply. By doing so, I may inadvertently give people the idea that my list was intended to be exhaustive, and that any circumstances that I did not mention do not apply. The circumstances should be considered case by case.
In relation to my earlier point, I can think of circumstances in which people could become bankrupt through no fault of their own. Their financial circumstances could be such that the situation was not caused by their own fecklessness, inattention to their own affairs or inability to manage them. For that reason, although it would seem to be a set of circumstances in which discretion ought not to apply, there is value in allowing the First Minister and Deputy First Minister discretion.