Part of Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 4:30 pm on 31 January 2002.
Des Browne
Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Northern Ireland Office, Parliamentary Secretary (Northern Ireland Office)
4:30,
31 January 2002
High Court judges and tiers below that, including tribunals and lay magistrates, are listed in the judicial offices in the schedule. The appointments system that applies to them was ably explained by the hon. Member for Reigate in relation to the previous group of amendments. The difference between them and more senior judges is that the First Minister and Deputy First Minister have a consultative role in respect of the senior judicial offices, but their role in relation to other appointments is to make recommendations.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
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.
