Clause 24 - Establishment of tribunal

Part of Civil Contingencies Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 3:15 pm on 10 February 2004.

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Photo of Alistair Carmichael Alistair Carmichael Shadow Spokesperson (Energy and Climate Change), Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Energy and Climate Change) 3:15, 10 February 2004

May I remind the Committee that we are talking about the establishment of tribunals? I can understand the urgency associated with a forest fire or some massive disease that requires sudden and draconian action on the ground, but I cannot for the life of me imagine a circumstance in which the Minister would be dragged from his bed at three o'clock in the morning and told that he had to set up a tribunal and that it could not wait until after breakfast. The application of urgency in the context of setting up tribunals seems a bit more than is absolutely necessary.

I am also somewhat puzzled by the construction of subsections (2)(a) and (c). Paragraph (a) states:

''a senior Minister of the Crown may disapply subsection (1)''—

the consultation of the Council on Tribunals

''if he thinks it necessary by reason of urgency''.

I cannot quite think what such a reason would be, and I suspect that even the Minister or Under-Secretary would be pushed to come up with an example. Paragraph (c) states:

''a failure to satisfy subsection (1) shall not affect the validity of regulations.''

Presumably, the only regulations to which a failure to satisfy subsection (1) can relate are those establishing a tribunal. To my mind, that negates the purpose of subsection (2)(a), which disapplies subsection (1) by reason of urgency. Paragraph (c) seems to suggest that the provision can be disregarded anyway, whether it is urgent or not, and that the tribunal that is subsequently established remains valid whether or not there has been consultation with the Council on Tribunals.

Subsection (2) is inelegantly drafted and the power is not absolutely necessary, and I hope that between now and Report the Minister might reconsider the clause and table some amendments.