Clause 4 - Making and dealing with applications for certificates
Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill
4:45 pm
Peter Robinson (Belfast East, DUP)
I support the amendment tabled by the hon. Member for Solihull. I am unsure of the Government’s intention in using the language they have used in the Bill. The commissioner will have no way of knowing whether the person is acting on behalf of the applicant, unless the applicant has signed the application off. I could put in an application for someone, and the certifying officer would not know whether that had been done with or without permission unless it was signed off by that person. The only way that this can be dealt with is on the basis that applications bear the person’s signature.
If there is such a form, the Liberal Democrat amendment would not necessarily require it to be filled in by the individual. It would require that person to approve it and to sign it off. The legislation cannot work unless there is the requirement for the applicant to sign the application. Otherwise, the commission will waste a lot of energy in looking at applications that have been submitted vexatiously, on the assumption that that will enable people to find out from the prosecution service whether there is a case against certain individuals.
I hope that everyone recognises that if the Minister could make the giant leap forward of accepting this, there would be a consequence. This measure stands on all fours with the issues covered by, for instance, amendment No. 24, which would require a presence in the court itself. I do not think that the logic that defends this issue can depart when it comes to considering such a presence.
I hope that the Minister makes the minor concession involved in relation to the amendment, but he should also recognise that it would require him to make another further down the line.