Clause 20
Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Bill
10:00 am
Laurence Robertson (Shadow Minister, Northern Ireland; Tewkesbury, Conservative)
The amendments refer to the stop and question powers of a member of Her Majesty’s forces on duty or a constable. The clause says:
“A member of Her Majesty’s forces on duty or a constable may stop a person for so long as is necessary to question him to ascertain his identity and movements.”
Why is “necessary” used rather than “reasonable”, which is more frequently used in such cases? Another amendment in the group before us would qualify subsection (1) by adding
“if he suspects that he may be able to provide information about a recent explosion or another recent incident endangering life, or the effects thereof.”
My amendments would offer a belt and braces approach: one tries to change the wording to “reasonable” rather than “necessary”; and another would add the provision that there must be a good reason to stop and question people. Why has the Minister approached the issue as outlined in the clause?