Oral Answers to Questions — Cyprus – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 24 February 1954.
Mr Donald Wade
, Huddersfield West
12:00,
24 February 1954
asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has a statement to make on the relaxation of the Laws affecting the liberty of the subject in Cyprus.
Mr Oliver Lyttelton
, Aldershot
No, Sir.
Mr Donald Wade
, Huddersfield West
Will the right hon. Gentleman have a look at the Charter of Human Rights and satisfy himself that he is not in any way encouraging or authorising acts which are contrary to the Charter? May I put a more specific question? Can he give an assurance that recent legislation amending the criminal code and giving very wide powers of seizing and opening letters and other documents entering the island will be repealed? If not, can he give an assurance that that legislation is intended only to deal with suspected breaches of customs law and not as a means of interfering with freedom of speech and freedom of expression of opinion?
Mr Oliver Lyttelton
, Aldershot
I think I can assure the hon. Member, on the first part of his supplementary question, that I am unaware of any occasion when I have personally violated the Charter of Human Rights. [An HON. MEMBER: "British Guiana? "] On the other point, I would be glad to communicate with the hon. Member. It has been alleged that this examination by officials of packages and so on can be carried out without the knowledge of the person concerned, but Post Office law provides that they be given an opportunity of being present.
Mr Charles Fletcher-Cooke
, Darwen
Will my right hon. Friend agree that Laws against sedition which are not at present enforced should either be repealed or enforced, because there is nothing worse than having laws openly defied, and not having them either enforced or repealed?
Mr Oliver Lyttelton
, Aldershot
I do not know the import of the question, but I shall be glad to look into any specific matter.
Mr Julian Snow
, Lichfield and Tamworth
Will the right hon. Gentleman consider approaching the Patriarch of Constantinople and asking him to use his influence with the Archbishop for the purpose of reducing the tension in the island which has produced this sort of situation?
Mr Oliver Lyttelton
, Aldershot
The hon. Member is rating my influence rather high. I will do anything which is practicable to help in this matter, but I cannot give him a specific answer.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Laws are the rules by which a country is governed. Britain has a long history of law making and the laws of this country can be divided into three types:- 1) Statute Laws are the laws that have been made by Parliament. 2) Case Law is law that has been established from cases tried in the courts - the laws arise from test cases. The result of the test case creates a precedent on which future cases are judged. 3) Common Law is a part of English Law, which has not come from Parliament. It consists of rules of law which have developed from customs or judgements made in courts over hundreds of years. For example until 1861 Parliament had never passed a law saying that murder was an offence. From the earliest times courts had judged that murder was a crime so there was no need to make a law.
