Oliver Heald

I do not disagree with that, but what is the material on which the Lord Chief Justice will make his decision, and what will be the grounds for it? If he has to decide whether to appoint a judge to an inquiry, his view about the criteria, the material that he wants to see and so on may be different from his view if he has to second-guess and decide whether to suspend an inquest. They are not the same question. The Lord Chancellor assures me that they are the same question and all the same thing, but it does not say that anywhere. The criteria for the Lord Chief Justice to make his decision about the appointment of the judge are not set down anywhere, but the extra lock, which my hon. and learned Friend proposes, makes the matter absolutely clear.

Amendment (a) says that the Lord Chief Justice would have to approve not only the appointment of the judge, but the investigation's suspension. They are different questions, but that amendment would cover them completely and mean that, in future, an unsatisfactory decision could not be made.

— from debate entitled “Schedule 1 — Duty or power to suspend or resume investigations”

The three speeches/headings immediately before

  1. 1 earlier: Jack Straw

    This issue is really important, because Lords amendment 1B would amend paragraph 3(1) of schedule 1 so that it stated:

    "Subject to sub-paragraph (2), a senior coroner must suspend an investigation under this Part of this Act into a person's death if—

    (b) a senior judge has been appointed under that Act"—

    the Inquiries Act 2005—

    "as chairman of the inquiry."

    The senior judge could not be appointed unless the Lord Chief Justice had consented. He would have an absolute lock on that, under the Lords amendment, and I promise the hon. Gentleman that that is the case.

  2. 2 earlier: Oliver Heald

    The Lord Chancellor and I may have to disagree on that point, but I believe that the decision about whether to suspend the inquest is different from the decision about whether to appoint a judge. The Lord Chancellor might take the view that the suspension is proper and the Lord Chief Justice might not agree, but he might none the less agree to the appointment of the judge if he feels that that is a broadly acceptable decision.

  3. 3 earlier: Jack Straw

    I have said this about 15 times, but the Lord Chief Justice would not appoint that judge or any judge unless he were satisfied about the case for suspending the inquest. Why would he? He would have an absolute right to a veto under the amendment already agreed to in the other place.

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