Clause 29 - Procedure
Civil Contingencies Bill
4:30 pm
Mr Douglas Alexander (Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Cabinet Office; Paisley South, Labour)
I beg to move amendment No. 114, in
clause 29, page 18, line 36, at end insert—
'(2) Emergency regulations shall be treated for the purposes of the Human Rights Act 1998 (c.42) as subordinate legislation and not primary legislation (whether or not they amend primary legislation).'.
The Government considered whether emergency regulations required procedural protection from challenges on human rights grounds. To prompt discussion on the matter, the draft Bill published in June included a clause that provided that emergency regulations were to be treated as primary legislation for the purposes of the Human Rights Act. The effect would have been to limit the remedies that a court could award on a successful challenge to emergency regulations on human rights grounds, informed by the consultation process that I described at length. On the report of the Joint Committee and its further analysis, the Government decided that that was not necessary, and the relevant clause was not included in the Bill when it was published. However, it has become apparent that the Human Rights Act 1998 will treat regulations as primary legislation in certain circumstances, particularly if the regulations amend primary legislation. That does not reflect the Government's intention. The amendment will ensure that emergency regulations are treated as subordinate legislation for the purposes of the Human Rights Act, even if they amend primary legislation. Therefore, the emergency regulations can be struck down by the courts on human rights grounds when appropriate.