Clause 18 - Meaning of ''emergency''
Civil Contingencies Bill
11:00 am
Ms Fiona Mactaggart (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Race Equality, Community Policy and Civil Renewal), Home Office; Slough, Labour)
There is a power in the Bill that allows for the use of existing legislative powers that cannot normally be used immediately. I shall come to that, but I do not think that that is the hon. Gentleman's point. He asks what recourse somebody might have to the courts in such circumstances. Access to the courts remains a fundamental principle of our constitution. Even in times of emergency, a person should be able to challenge the legality of an action that adversely affects him. The grounds on which regulations could be challenged could be those that the situation did not meet the definition of an emergency or that there were other powers to deal with it.