Clause 2
Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill
9:00 am
Henry Bellingham (Shadow Minister, Constitutional Affairs; North West Norfolk, Conservative)
We certainly support this part of the Bill. The hon. and learned Lady made a point about the Judicial Appointments Commission. We supported the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 because one ofthe key principles behind it was the separation of powers—that is, that the process of judicial selection should be totally separate from the Executive. Obviously, taking the power away from the Lord Chancellor and putting it into the hands of the commission was an important part of that Act.
I have a question about the clause. Obviously, the Lord Chancellor himself will appoint the person tothe office of senior president. I take on board the Minister’s point about the default position in respect of the Judicial Appointments Commission, but may I ask how that ties in with the 2005 Act?
I want to make another quick point. We support the whole essence of trying to bring the tribunals together into one consolidated organisation. However, how will Parliament be involved in scrutinising how the new process works? Obviously, we can question Ministers; the Select Committee on Constitutional Affairs will call evidence at different times in different inquiries. However, will the Minister comment briefly on how Parliament will be able to scrutinise how the new process will work?