Clause 4
Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Bill
6:00 pm
Lady Hermon (North Down, UUP)
I beg to move amendment No. 29, in clause 4, page 3, line 26, leave out subsection (2).
I am encouraged and inspired by your words, Sir Nicholas. We shall fight on to amend some of the clauses.
We need some clarification of the clause from the Minister. It relates to the type of trial that will take place if a certificate has been issued. The clause states that:
“A trial on indictment in relation to which a certificate under section 1 has been issued”
by the DPP, who has gone through all the checks and decided that one of the conditions in clause 1 has been met and that there is a risk to the administration of justice, will be held at the Crown Court in Belfast,
“unless the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland directs that—
(a) the trial,
(b) a part of the trial, or
(c) a class of trials within which the trial falls,
is to be held at the Crown Court sitting elsewhere.”
The amendment relates to subsection (2):
“The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland maynominate any of the following to exercise his functions under subsection (1)—
(a) the holder of one of the offices listed in Schedule 1 to the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 (c. 26);
(b) a Lord Justice of Appeal (as defined in section 88 of that Act).”
I am worried by that provision, given the seriousness of the issues that we have discussed this afternoon and the nature of the cases that would be referred to non-jury trial. That is not meant as a criticism of the present Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, whom I hold in the highest esteem, as, I am sure, do hon. Members right across the House.
In giving the Lord Chief Justice the discretion to nominate “any of the following”, the subsection makes reference to schedule 1 to the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002. When I mention individual offices, it is not meant as a criticism of the holder; I do so because those offices are listed in that schedule. Listed among the judicial offices to which the Lord Chief Justice may delegate the serious responsibility of deciding on a non-jury trial are the chief child support commissioner for Northern Ireland; the child support commissioner for Northern Ireland; the deputy child support commissioner for Northern Ireland; the president of the Lands Tribunal for Northern Ireland, and a member of the panel of chairmen of the fair employment tribunals. The list extends to more than a score of judicial offices, including lay magistrate. Are we to understand that the chief social security commissioner, the Lands Tribunal president, a lay magistrate, or a member of the mental health review tribunal, all of whom are in listed in schedule 1 to the 2002 Act, should be tasked with the great responsibility of deciding on a non-jury trial? I should have thought not.
If we do not delete all of subsection (2), perhaps the Minister could have a rethink about to whom exactly the Lord Chief Justice should delegate. There is no criticism of his judgment. I just think that lay magistrates, chief commissioners of social security and presidents of the Lands Tribunal may be somewhat surprised, to put it mildly, if they have delegated to them a responsibility for a non-jury trial in Northern Ireland in relation to a proscribed organisation. That is the point that I wish to make with this amendment.