Northern Ireland Assembly

House of Lords written question – answered at on 3 July 2013.

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Photo of Lord Laird Lord Laird Non-affiliated

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Randerson on 20 June (WA 73–4), for what reasons they did not temporarily extend the life of the Northern Ireland Assembly in advance of its election in 2011 to avoid a clash with the 2015 United Kingdom parliamentary election as was done in Scotland and Wales; and whether they sought legal advice about the conformity of so extending the term of an already-elected legislature with Article 1 of Protocol 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Photo of Baroness Randerson Baroness Randerson Lords Spokesperson (Northern Ireland Office), The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales

As indicated by Lord Wallace of Tankerness during the debates on the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011. Official Report, 1 March 2011, Column 934. Northern Ireland Office Ministers concluded that it would be better to await the outcome of the combined polls scheduled for May 2011 before deciding whether to make provision for Northern Ireland.

Commentary on the interaction between the provisions of Clause 7 and Article 3 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights is set out in paragraphs 142 and 143 of the Explanatory Notes. As stated there, and in paragraph 123 of the Explanatory Notes, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has concluded that the provisions of the Bill are compatible with the Convention rights.

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