Clause 11
6:15 pm
Roger Gale (North Thanet, Conservative)
With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: amendment 42, in clause 11, page 6, line 6, leave out ‘any of the reasons’ and insert ‘the reason’.
Amendment 43, in clause 11, page 6, line 9, leave out ‘reasons are’ and insert ‘reason is’.
Amendment 41, in clause 11, page 6, leave out lines 12 to 16.
Clause stand part.
Amendment 63, in clause 12, page 7, line 3, leave out ‘Secretary of State’ and insert
‘High Court on application by the Secretary of State or by any interested person.
(1A) The court may discontinue a certificate if it is satisfied that the certificate is no longer necessary to prevent material or information being disclosed whose disclosure would be seriously detrimental to national security.’.
Amendment 64, in clause 12, page 7, line 6, leave out ‘11(3)(a)’ and insert ‘[Certified investigations](4)(b)’.
Amendment 65, in clause 12, page 7, line 9, leave out ‘11(3)’ and insert ‘[Certified investigations](4)(b)’.
Amendment 66, in clause 12, page 7, line 15, leave out from ‘must’ to end of line 17 and insert
‘continue with the inquest with the jury already summoned.’.
Amendment 67, in clause 13, page 7, leave out lines 22 to 31 and insert—
“(d) disclosure for the purposes of an inquest for which a certificate exists under section 11 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009; or’.
Amendment 68, in clause 13, page 7, line 41, after ‘Court’, insert ‘or Coroner’.
Amendment 69, in clause 13, page 7, line 42, after ‘judge’, insert ‘or coroner’.
Amendment 125, in clause 34, page 19, leave out lines 10 to 12.
Amendment 110, in clause 38, page 23, line 28, leave out from ‘5’ to end of line 29.
Amendment 109, in schedule 9, page 139, line 3, leave out from beginning to end of line 6 on page 140.
New clause 10—Certified investigations—
‘(1) The Secretary of State may apply to the High Court for a certificate ordering that an inquest be held in camera.
(2) The Secretary of State may only apply for a certificate if he is satisfied that it would be necessary to prevent material or information being disclosed whose disclosure would be seriously detrimental to national security.
(3) The court may only grant the certificate if it is satisfied—
(a) that granting the certificate is necessary to prevent material or information being disclosed whose disclosure would be seriously detrimental to national security; and
(b) that other measures short of granting a certificate would not be adequate to prevent such disclosure.
(4) Where the court grants a certificate, the following provisions apply—
(a) Chapter 2 of Part 3 of this Act (witness anonymity orders) shall apply as if a coroner’s court were a court for the purposes of that Chapter, as if the proceedings at an inquest were criminal proceedings for the purpose of that Chapter, and as if references to the prosecutor in that Chapter included a reference to the Secretary of State;
(b) the Lord Chief Justice may appoint a judge of the High Court to act as coroner for the case, and a judge so appointed shall have the same functions and powers in relation to the body and the investigation as would be the case if he or she were the senior coroner in whose area the body was situated;
(c) the jury may be subject to checking in accordance with the Attorney General’s Guidelines on Jury Checks.
(5) If a just has already been summoned when a certificate is issued, that jury must be discharged and a new jury summoned.
(6) The certificate may require that part of the inquest be held in camera and part in public, and the court must only issue a certificate requiring the whole of an inquest to be held in camera if that is necessary to prevent material or information being disclosed whose disclosure would be seriously detrimental to national security.
(7) Where a certificate has been issued under this section, the coroner or judge may at any time, taking into account whether any witness anonymity orders have been made, admit to the proceedings any interested person he may specify, provided that he is satisfied that doing so will not lead to material or information being disclosed whose disclosure would be seriously detrimental to national security.
(8) Where a decision made by a judge conducting an investigation by virtue of this section gives rise to an appeal under section 30, that section has effect as if references in it to the Chief Coroner were references to a judge of the Court of Appeal nominated by the Lord Chief Justice.
(9) A reference in this section or section 12 to conducting an investigation, in the case of an investigation that has already begun, is to be read as a reference to continuing to conduct it.’.