Clause 34
Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Bill
3:00 pm
Laurence Robertson (Shadow Minister, Northern Ireland; Tewkesbury, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 23, in clause 34, page 23, line 8, at end insert
‘, but all breaches of the code shall subject the police officer to disciplinary procedures.’.
I shall not disappoint you this time, Sir Nicholas. Having examined the Bill more closely, I realised that it was not necessary to move the previous amendment.
Clause 34(1) refers to the effect of the code and states:
“A failure by a police officer to comply with a provision of a code shall not of itself make him liable to criminal or civil proceedings.”
My amendment is designed to give us the facility to discuss why that subsection is in the Bill and what the Minister envisages would happen if a police officer did not comply with the code, which has been compiled by the Secretary of State and approved by both Houses of Parliament.