Clause 22 - Suspension and revival of section 3
Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill
3:45 pm
Lembit Öpik (Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Affairs; Montgomeryshire, Liberal Democrat)
New clause 11 would ensure that the Bill lapsed after five years. With the benefit of perspective, I now think that we might want to make that period shorter. The one thing I am absolutely certain about is that there has to be an outer limit to this legislation, otherwise those whom we seek to encourage to apply for the provision will have no time incentive to do so. The new clause would also go some way towards mitigating the indefinite get-out-of-jail-free-card problem, which we have already debated on a number of occasions.