Clause 14 - Removal of names from the supplemental list
Courts Bill [Lords]
10:30 am
Mr David Heath (Somerton and Frome, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move amendment No. 121, in
clause 14, page 7, line 15, at end insert—
'(3) If the Lord Chancellor directs the removal of a person's name under subsection (2), he shall give his reasons for so directing.'.
Again, this is partly a probing amendment to help us to understand under what circumstances the Lord Chancellor might direct the removal of a person's name from the supplemental list. However, it is also a little more than that. Under natural justice, a person should be entitled to know why they have been removed from what is essentially an honorific list. Subsection (1) contains a clear requirement for that to happen if a person
''ceases to be a justice of the peace.''
Subsection (2)(b), however, appears to be entirely discretionary on the part of the Lord Chancellor, unless it is intended to qualify the first provision. However, I do not think that it is. Perhaps the Minister could explain under what circumstances the Lord Chancellor would exercise his powers to direct the removal of a name and why he should not be required to give a reason for doing so, given that there are, perhaps understandably, none of the qualifications that apply to the removal of a lay justice from office. Clear grounds must be set out in statute. However, no such grounds are set out in the Bill, which is rather fuzzy as it is currently worded.