Clause 8 - Tests for registration: utility and least suffering
Hunting Bill
2:45 pm
Mr Rob Marris (Wolverhampton South West, Labour)
Thank you for that further reminder, Mrs. Roe. I shall try, but my hon. Friend the Member for The Wrekin (Peter Bradley), who sits in front of me, may not appreciate that.
I genuinely believe that the hon. Member for North Wiltshire does not quite understand the legal system in England and Wales. This is a tribunal matter. The onus in a tribunal, whether it is an employment or other tribunal, is on the applicant to show something on the balance of probability. When the hon. Gentleman refers to the applicant having to prove something beyond all reasonable doubt, it is not legally correct.
I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman meant it in this way, but the concept and wording can be interpreted pejoratively, reversing the burden of proof. In the English criminal system, the onus is on the prosecution to prove a case beyond reasonable doubt. In the civil system, whether the civil courts—the county courts and the High court—or tribunals, the onus is always on the applicant to show something on the balance of probability. Therefore, the situation posited by the hon. Gentleman when suggesting why the changes are necessary is based on a false premise and the changes are not necessary.