Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 4:15 pm on 7 June 2004.

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Photo of Lord Newton of Braintree Lord Newton of Braintree Conservative 4:15, 7 June 2004

My Lords, I indicated earlier that when the Council on Tribunals looked at some of the proposals, though it concentrated on Ulster in particular, it was concerned by a number of points of detail. This is another of them.

I shall not attempt to speak with the eloquence of the noble Lord, Lord Clinton-Davis, with his much wider knowledge of the operations of the legal profession, but it seems to be a matter of layman's common sense that if public funding is to be dependent on the ultimate outcome, which is what appears to be envisaged, there must be a risk that lawyers will feel strongly discouraged from taking on cases that may be meritorious in the normal use of that term, but not 100 per cent certain of being meritorious. In the area of asylum and immigration, it is singularly open to question whether that is a proper path to follow.

Being a natural seeker after the middle way, of the two amendments moved by the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, I think that I prefer his compromise amendments to his complete "throw out this bit of the Bill" amendment, but I hope that the Government will look again at the issue.

From our experience at the Council on Tribunals—as was touched on by the noble Lord, Lord Clinton-Davis—there is considerable evidence that suggests that the absence of legal representation can extend the time and complexity of the hearing and make it much more difficult to handle matters in a manageable way. Any former Member of Parliament will know from discussions in his surgery that many complainants, claimants or applicants often find it difficult to distinguish the points that really matter from those that are not necessarily essential to the issue. Legal representation really can improve the smoothness and efficiency of the working of arrangements of that kind. With the best will in the world, I hope that the Minister will be prepared to take another look at the matter.