Clause 2 - Membership of the Commission
Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill [Lords]
2:30 pm
Mr Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 11, in
clause 2, page 2, line 8, leave out subsection 2.
At the risk of going over ground that was touched on in the other place, we cannot allow subsection (2) to pass without probing the Government on the changes that they have introduced. The Minister will be aware that the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 provided that a judicial member of the Judicial Appointments Commission would hold office, in effect, for such a period as was linked to his tenure as a judge, unless, of course, he opted to come off the commission. The change provides for a ceiling limit of 10 years' service and for such a member not holding office for more than five years at a time.
I am not unsympathetic to the Minister's aim. I can see the merit of a throughput of people providing expertise to the commission, but the point was rightly made in the other place that the number of judges available to do the work is pretty limited. There must be concern about whether there will be the required number of judges willing to do the work, because it is probably quite onerous, and whether we will end up with a shortage of judges. At the same time, judges who have been doing excellent work will not be able to continue as a result of the provision. I should be grateful to hear the Minister's explanations and views on the subject.