Clause 3 - Provision of accommodation
Courts Bill [Lords]
2:30 pm
Mr Christopher Leslie (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs; Shipley, Labour)
I beg to move amendment No. 18, in
clause 3, page 2, line 40, leave out 'shall' and insert 'may'.
This amendment has been tabled to dispel the uncertainty created by an Opposition amendment that was successful in the other place. We hope that it will remove problems about interpretation.
During Committee stage in the other place on 28 January, Baroness Anelay tabled a successful amendment to clause 3. The aim of the amendment was to make it clear that the Lord Chancellor should be under a duty to provide, equip, maintain and manage such courthouses, offices and other accommodation as appear to him appropriate. The amendment therefore changed the wording from ''may provide'' to ''shall provide''. Baroness Anelay was concerned that the Lord Chancellor should not have discretion to choose to make no provision. I think that that is a fair summary of the rationale behind her amendment.
I fully understand the noble Lady's concerns about interpretation and not leaving unnecessary lacunas in the Bill. Nevertheless, we want to reverse her amendment at this stage, as we feel that the Bill makes it clear that the Lord Chancellor is already under the necessary duty, and I shall explain why. Primarily, clause 1(1) states that the Lord Chancellor has to provide an efficient and effective court system; that is his general duty. We are worried that the wording of the Opposition amendment could create uncertainty about the relationship between clause 3(1) and clause 3(2). If the Lord Chancellor, by virtue of clause 3(1), were under a duty to provide, equip, maintain and manage such courthouses himself, how could any contracting out take place under the subsequent subsection? The amendment would produce dubious wording in the Bill, so it needs clarifying.
The uncertainty is greater still, given that there is at present a mismatch between the words of clause 2, which still states ''may appoint'', and clause 3, which now states ''shall provide''. They were formerly constructed in a similar way. We feel that, in addition to those reasons, some potential problems of interpretation would remain. That particular phraseology needs to be altered and we should leave out ''shall'' and insert the word ''may''. I hope that the Committee can see the benefits of the amendment.