Clause 1
Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Bill
11:00 am
I tabled an amendment that would have the effect simply of removing clause 1 and, as hon. Members will see from the list, and as has been anticipated by the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire, clause 2 as well. The clauses provide for continuity of Diplock courts and non-jury trials in the future. It is wrong to deny people their basic right to a jury trial, which the Secretary of State and Ministers proclaimed in legislation that they introduced last year would be guaranteed from 2008 at the latest and hopefully from later this year, except for a one-year extension. Those assurances and arguments from Ministers less than a year ago are being turned on their head in the Bill.
The provisions for non-jury trials in circumstances of the DPP’s choosing also violate commitments that were given in the joint declaration from the two Governments in April 2003 following a series of negotiations at Hillsborough and at various other talks before that. Those commitments were to repeal the Northern Ireland-specific provisions in part VII of the Terrorism Act 2000. Legislation was introduced to do just that, but now those provisions are, in essence, being re-enacted in a new form.
The Government tell us in these days of environmental awareness that we have to reduce, re-use and recycle, but it is not good enough to say that we are going to reduce the number of instances where we have non-jury trials but re-use provisions that we previously repealed to recycle Diplock courts into the future. That simply is not what is needed in Northern Ireland.
Of course, the provisions in part VII of the Terrorism Act are subject to annual renewal because they were emergency provisions. We are told that the Bill will further the normalisation agenda, but in reality we are seeing a normalisation of the abnormal. The provisions will not be subject to annual renewal; on the contrary, the legislation will be permanent. Clause 40 will allow the Secretary of State to repeal by order any of the emergency powers in later clauses but not the provisions for non-jury trials.
Hon. Members must be aware of the Bill’s implications and extent. It is not the usual nod-through—as at the Derry-Bridgend border—of emergency provisions subject to renewal. It will make measures permanent that the Government assured us during debate on last year’s legislation that they would repeal. The Bill will institutionalise the temporary and exceptional and undermine Government commitments. As a leader of my party and a legislator, that is not something that I can take lightly.