Petitions – in the House of Commons at 7:04 pm on 21 March 2007.
Andrew Love
Labour, Edmonton
7:04,
21 March 2007
I wish to present a petition collected by the Zacchaeus Trust 2000 and others. The trust is a registered charity of members with a strong religious conviction who are focused on the alleviation of poverty in this country. In that regard, they are particularly concerned about the behaviour of bailiffs in executing warrants on behalf of the courts and, in particular, about the rights of citizens to refuse entry to a bailiff. That right was established in about 1300 and has been upheld by the courts ever since. That common law right was abolished by the domestic violence, Crime and Victims Bill, and the petition draws attention to the failure of the then Minister who introduced the change to refer to the importance of this long-established right, and to the fact that the change was never debated on the Floor of the House of Commons.
The Petition states:
The Petitioners request that the House of Commons restore the ancient rights of British citizens to refuse the forced entry of bailiffs.
And the Petitioners remain, etc.
To lie upon the Table.
The House of Commons is one of the houses of parliament. Here, elected MPs (elected by the "commons", i.e. the people) debate. In modern times, nearly all power resides in this house. In the commons are 650 MPs, as well as a speaker and three deputy speakers.
violence occurring within the family
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
