House of Commons Amendments

Session 2010 - 12
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

13

House of Commons

Thursday 14 July 2011

Public Bill Committee

New Amendments handed in are marked thus

Amendments which will comply with the required notice period at their next appearance

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of

Offenders Bill

Note

The Amendments have been arranged in accordance with the Order of

Committee [12 July].

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

That if, on Tuesday 19 July, references to specific times in the Standing Orders of this

House apply as if that day were a Wednesday, paragraph (1)(c) of the Order of the

Committee of 12 July shall be amended by leaving out ‘10.30 am and 4.00 pm’ and

inserting ‘9.00 am and 1.30 pm’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

That the Order of the Committee of 12 July be amended as follows—

in the Table in paragraph (2), in the second entry for Thursday 14 July, in third column,

leave out ‘Serco;’.

Mr Andy Slaughter

60


Clause  1,  page  1,  line  6,  at end insert—

‘(1A)
The provision of legal aid must promote and ensure access to justice by—

(a)
providing legal services to those unable to afford it;

(b)
ensuring equality of arms; and

(c)
delivering services in the most effective and efficient manner.’.

Public Bill Committee: 14 July 2011
14

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of , continued

Karl Turner

14


Clause  1,  page  1,  line  8,  after ‘services’, insert ‘for the purpose of securing

practical and effective access to justice for individuals’.

Mr Andy Slaughter

1


Clause  1,  page  1,  line  13,  leave out ‘may’ and insert ‘must’.

Mr Andy Slaughter

2


Clause  1,  page  1,  line  13,  after ‘secure’, insert ‘, through the internet or otherwise,’.

Mr Andy Slaughter

61


Clause  1,  page  2,  line  7,  at end insert—

‘(6)
In carrying out his functions under this Act the L ord Chancellor shall—

(a)
protect and promote the public interest;

(b)
support the constitutional principle of the rule of law;

(c)
ensure no denial of access to justice;

(d)
ensure that access to legal aid complies with Article 6 of the Human

Rights Act, taking into account any guidance provided by the European

Court of Human Rights.

(7)
T he Lord Chancellor must each year lay a report before Parliament explaining his

legal aid strategy.

(8)
A “legal aid strategy” is a strategy under this section setting out the measures that

the Lord Chancellor has taken in the past 12 months, and the measures he

proposes to take in the next 12 months for the purpose of complying with

subsection (3) and (6) in accordance with the principles in subsection (1A).

(9)
The Lord Chancellor must each year lay before Parliament a further report

describing, in his opinion, the extent to which any changes he has made to the

amount of expenditure on civil legal aid has caused additional costs to other

departments of state.

(10)
Before submitting the report to Parliament under section 1(9) the Lord Chancellor

shall submit the report to the Comptroller and Auditor General for approval.’.

Mr Andy Slaughter

3


Clause  2,  page  2,  line  9,  leave out ‘may’ and insert ‘must’.

Mr Andy Slaughter

4


Clause  2,  page  2,  line  11,  after ‘Part’, insert ‘and of fulfilling his obligations under

section 1, having regard to the extent and nature of demand from eligible persons for

Legal Aid’.

Public Bill Committee: 14 July 2011
15

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of , continued

Karl Turner [R]

16


Clause  2,  page  2,  line  20,  at end insert—

‘(b)
when making regulations under subsection (3) the Lord Chancellor must

have regard to—

(i)
the need to secure the provision of services to which the

regulations relate by a sufficient number of competent persons

and bodies;

(ii)
the cost to public funds; and

(iii)
the need to secure value for money.’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

17


Clause  2,  page  2,  line  22,  after ‘court’ insert ‘, tribunal’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

18


Clause  2,  page  2,  line  23,  after ‘court’ insert ‘, tribunal’.

Mr Andy Slaughter

5


Clause  2,  page  2,  line  25,  leave out subsection (5).

Mr Andy Slaughter

6


Clause  3,  page  2,  line  42,  after ‘may’, insert ‘not’.

Mr Andy Slaughter

7


Clause  3,  page  3,  line  3,  leave out subsection (5).

Mr Andy Slaughter

8


Clause  4,  page  3,  line  9,  at end insert—

‘(2)
This position will be subject to a pre-appointment hearing by a select committee

of the House of Commons.’.

Mr Andy Slaughter

9


Clause  4,  page  3,  line  19,  at end insert ‘except in such cases where the Lord

Chancellor considers that a decision in relation to the denial of legal aid by the Director

would result in the denial of access of justice.’.

Mr Andy Slaughter

10


Clause  4,  page  3,  line  20,  leave out subsections (5) and (6) and insert—

Public Bill Committee: 14 July 2011
16

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of , continued

(5)

(a)
A decision of the Director on eligibility for legal aid may be appealed to

the Legal Aid Tribunal which shall—

(i)
consist of the chairperson and other members appointed under

the subsection below;

(ii)
act independently when performing any functions or duties.

(b)
The functions of the Tribunal are to—

(i)
consider applications for review of decisions of the Director on

eligibility;

(ii)
conduct and determine reviews of decisions of the Director on

eligibility.

(c)
The Lord Chancellor must—

(i)
appoint members of the Tribunal of sufficient number to deal

promptly with all reviews and who between them have

experience in a range of legal areas and types of proceedings; and

(ii)
appoint one of the members as the chairperson of the Tribunal.

(d)
The primary function of the chairperson is to ensure that the Tribunal

performs its functions in accordance with this Act in an efficient and

effective manner.’.

Mr Andy Slaughter

11


Page  3,  line  24,  leave out Clause 5.

Mr Andy Slaughter

12


Page  4,  line  13,  leave out Clause 6.

Mr Andy Slaughter

13


Clause  7,  page  5,  line  20,  leave out from ‘from’ to ‘resolution’ and insert ‘of

representation. They may also include additional services such as mediation and other

forms of dispute resolution.’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

19


Schedule  1,  page  95,  line  31,  leave out ‘paragraph 1’ and insert ‘sub-paragraph

(1)’.

Public Bill Committee: 14 July 2011
17

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of , continued

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

20


Schedule  1,  page  106,  line  36,  leave out ‘body’ and insert ‘person’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

21


Schedule  1,  page  119,  line  15,  leave out ‘body’ and insert ‘person’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

22


Clause  9,  page  6,  line  8,  leave out ‘the individual’s rights’ and insert ‘any rights of

the individual’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

23


Clause  9,  page  6,  line  8,  leave out ‘under European Union law’ and insert ‘that are

enforceable EU rights’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

24


Clause  10,  page  6,  line  38,  leave out ‘section’ and insert ‘paragraph’.

Karl Turner [R]

15


Clause  12,  page  8,  line  27,  at end insert ‘and the need to secure that individuals

involved in criminal investigations or criminal proceedings have access, regardless of

their means, to such advice, assistance and representation as the interests of justice

require’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

25


Clause  13,  page  9,  line  40,  leave out ‘body’ and insert ‘, person’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

26


Clause  14,  page  10,  line  8,  leave out ‘or other body’ and insert ‘, tribunal or other

person’.

Public Bill Committee: 14 July 2011
18

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of , continued

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

27


Clause  14,  page  10,  line  42,  after ‘court’ insert ‘, tribunal’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

28


Clause  15,  page  11,  line  8,  after ‘determined’ insert ‘(provisionally or otherwise)’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

29


Clause  15,  page  11,  line  15,  after ‘determined’ insert ‘(provisionally or

otherwise)’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

30


Clause  17,  page  13,  line  19,  after ‘court’ insert ‘, tribunal’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

31


Clause  17,  page  13,  line  23,  leave out ‘and section 19(3)’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

32


Clause  17,  page  13,  line  24,  at end insert—

‘( )
This section does not authorise the Director to make a provisional determination

and accordingly—

(a)
references in this section to a determination do not include a provisional

determination, and

(b)
references in this section to a decision do not include a decision made as

part of such a determination.’

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

33


Clause  18,  page  14,  line  5,  after ‘court’ insert ‘, tribunal’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

34


Clause  18,  page  14,  line  10,  at end insert—

‘( )
Regulations under this section may not authorise a court to make a provisional

determination and accordingly—

(a)
references in this section to a determination do not include a provisional

determination, and

Public Bill Committee: 14 July 2011
19

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of , continued

(b)
references in this section to a decision do not include a decision made as

part of such a determination.’

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

35


Clause  19,  page  14,  line  23,  after ‘of’ insert ‘provisional’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

36


Clause  19,  page  14,  line  24,  after ‘provision’ insert ‘equivalent to that’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

37


Clause  19,  page  14,  line  24,  leave out ‘(h)’ and insert ‘(i)’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

38


Clause  19,  page  14,  line  28,  after second ‘determination’ insert ‘made’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

39


Clause  19,  page  14,  line  29,  leave out ‘under section 15’ and insert ‘in reliance on

section 17 or 18’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

40


Clause  19,  page  14,  line  30,  leave out subsection (3).

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

41


Clause  19,  page  14,  line  33,  leave out ‘the regulations’ and insert ‘regulations

under this section’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

42


Schedule  2,  page  121,  line  15,  leave out ‘payable’ and insert ‘due’.

Mr Jonathan Djanogly

43


Schedule  2,  page  121,  line  27,  leave out ‘section 23’ and insert ‘MVO regulations’.



© Parliamentary copyright	Revised 14 July 2011