Clause 1
Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Bill
10:45 am
Lady Hermon (North Down, UUP)
I begin with a word of caution about the welcome that has been given to the Bill, particularly by the hon. Member for Tewkesbury, who suggests involving the Lord Chief Justice. We have only one Lord Chief Justice in Northern Ireland. Last year, although the number of Diplock non-jury trials decreased, the average reached 60 per year, according to a consultation paper published in August 2006. That is more than one per week. That figure comes from notes kindly provided by the Northern Ireland Office on the replacement arrangements for the Diplock court system. Those are lengthy, complex trials, and to suggest that the Lord Chief Justice has the spare time and capacity to adjudicate on whether we should have non-jury trials is illogical. It is a proposal to which I could not possibly agree.
My amendments are key to the extension of the scheme of non-jury trials. I was sorry to hear the opening remarks of the Minister, for whom I have enormous regard. His track record in the Home Office is second to none, his appointment to the Northern Ireland Office was welcomed on all sides and he has lived up to his reputation. However, it would have been helpful to the entire Committee if, since the Minister has responsibility for security, he could have enlightened the Committee about dissident republicans whom we know still to be out there and who have potential to do enormous damage. That has been mentioned time and again by the Independent Monitoring Commission. The IMC has also highlighted the fact that none of the loyalist paramilitary organisations that are proscribed and in some cases specified have begun any formal decommissioning at all. I hope that they will, over the coming weeks, but the problem is still there, and information on them would have been welcome too.
Will the Minister also reflect on the fact—because that is what it is—that at least two al-Qaeda suspects have already been arrested and charged in Northern Ireland in Belfast? It would help the Committee if he would take the opportunity to explain why Northern Ireland could easily be the soft underbelly for the rest of the United Kingdom, in that terrorists can arrive at airports and ports in the island of Ireland, in the Republic, and make their way into Northern Ireland through an unmanned border and hence to the rest of the United Kingdom. When we discuss non-jury trials we should focus not just on dissident republicans and loyalist terrorists, though there is a serious danger from them, because al-Qaeda and other foreign terrorists can certainly also use Northern Ireland as a soft way into the rest of the United Kingdom.
As I understand the Bill, that matter has been recognised in clause 1. If the Director of Public Prosecutions suspects that any of four conditions are met, and is satisfied that the administration of justice may therefore be impaired should a trial be conducted, he can order a certificate for a non-jury trial. Committee members will know that one such condition is that in clause 1(6), which is a condition saying:
“the offence or any of the offences was committed to any extent (whether or indirectly) as a result of, in connection with or in response to religious or political hostility of one person or group of persons towards another person or group or persons.”
There is no mention there of a proscribed organisation whose activities relate to Northern Ireland. So I had understood that non-jury trials could be called for by the DPP if he suspected that in the case of an arrested and charged international terrorist there were a likelihood of jury intimidation.
However, the amendments that I have tabled are intended particularly to attack a deadline in clause 2 that is both stupid and artificial. If one reads through it carefully, one finds that clause 2(1) requires that the DPP’s certificate—based on the conditions that I have mentioned—
“must be lodged with the court before the arraignment of...the defendant.”
Let us take an example for those not familiar with criminal procedure in Northern Ireland. Someone is arrested by the Police Service of Northern Ireland and is charged with an offence. On seeing the papers, and perhaps—as the Secretary of State said on Second Reading—through access to intelligence information, the DPP is satisfied that at least one of the four conditions is met. To recap, the conditions are that the defendant is a member of a proscribed organisation; that the offence has been committed by such an organisation; that there is an attempt to prejudice an investigation; and the fourth, to which I have already alluded.
Arraignment is the procedure whereby the defendant pleads one way or the other. If he pleads guilty, that is fine—there will not be a trial. If he pleads not guilty and there is a decision to go to court, it is essential that the DPP should have options between arraignment and the court case coming to trial if additional intelligence information comes to his attention, or if after the defendant has pleaded, some of his associates go to the nearest witness, put a gun to his head and say, “If you appear in that court, we will blast your head off,” “We will take your wife’s head off”, or “We will intimidate your children.” It is after arraignment and before the trial that there is a likelihood of jury intimidation and tampering, and intimidation of witnesses.
I cannot for the life of me understand why the Government, or those who drafted the legislation, accepted in clause 2 a ridiculous and artificial deadline to cut off at the time of arraignment the ability of a DPP to issue a certificate. That is not sensible at all. Amendments Nos. 27 and 28 would tackle the problem. Amendment No. 28 covers exactly the same point; that is, that we should not have an artificial deadline. That is the import of the two amendments, and I look forward to the Minister’s explanation of and justification for the artificial and ridiculous deadline for the DPP to submit his certificate.