Clause 84
Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [Lords]
9:15 am
Simon Hughes (Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs & Shadow Attorney General, Constitutional Affairs; North Southwark and Bermondsey, Liberal Democrat)
This is obviously a simple clause that says:
“This Part binds the Crown... But the procedure in Schedule 12 may not be used...to recover debts due from the Crown...to take control of or sell goods of the Crown (including goods owned by the crown jointly or in common with another person), or...to enter premises occupied by the Crown.”
Will the Minister explain how wide is the definition of the Crown? The Palace of Westminster, for example, used to be protected from all sorts of legal interventions because of its special status. In some circumstances, the definition of the Crown could be extended to include agencies of the Crown. I can understand that it would be rather indelicate for the bailiffs to go into Buckingham palace; it would not look terribly good if somebody had not paid the electricity bill. However, there should be a procedure, which would need to be extremely tightly drawn, for people to get their money back.