Clause 27 - Justices' clerks and assistant clerks
Courts Bill [Lords]
11:15 am
Mr Nick Hawkins (Surrey Heath, Conservative)
I shall be brief. The crucial amendment is amendment No. 36, which requires the agreement of the chairman and deputy chairman to the appointment of the justices' clerk. The rest of the amendments are connected with that. We feel that it is important that the chairman and deputy chairman are required to be involved in the designation.
Amendment No. 38 is also important. It suggests that an assistant clerk should be appointed only with the agreement of the clerk to the area. It would be helpful if that were also made clear in the Bill. I am sure that such an appointment would happen in practice only if the justices' clerk were happy. I hope that the Minister understands that we are genuinely trying to improve the provisions for consultation and involvement so as to improve the Bill. I shall listen with interest to his response.