Northern Ireland Bill

Northern Ireland Bill - continued	House of Commons

back to previous text


	PART VII
	MISCELLANEOUS
	Bodies established under Belfast Agreement
Consultation with consultative Civic Forum.	65. - (1) The First Minister and deputy First Minister acting jointly shall make arrangements for obtaining from the Forum the views of the community on social, economic and cultural matters.
	(2) The arrangements so made shall not take effect until after they have been approved by the Assembly.
	(3) The Assembly shall defray the Forum's expenses and provide the Forum with, or ensure that the Forum is provided with, the property, staff and services required for the Forum's purposes.
	(4) In this section "the Forum" means the consultative Civic Forum established in pursuance of paragraph 34 of Strand One of the Belfast Agreement.
	(5) Any expenditure incurred by the Assembly under this section shall be defrayed out of money appropriated by Act of the Assembly.
Participation in NSMC and BIC.	66. - (1) The First Minister and the deputy First Minister acting jointly shall ensure that there is-
	(a) such participation in the North-South Ministerial Council as appears to them to be required by Strand Two of the Belfast Agreement; and
	(b) such participation in the British-Irish Council as appears to them to be required by Strand Three of that Agreement.
	(2) In this section "participation" means participation by Northern Ireland Ministers and includes, in relation to either Council-
	(a) consulting with the other member or members of the Council; and
	(b) entering into agreements or arrangements with the other member or members of the Council in respect of transferred matters.
Attendance at BIIC meetings.	67. - (1) This section applies where the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of Ireland inform the First Minister and the deputy First Minister that excepted or reserved matters relating to Northern Ireland are to be discussed at a meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference.
	(2) Those Ministers acting jointly shall secure that there is such attendance at the meeting as appears to them to be required by Strand Three of the Belfast Agreement.
	(3) In this section "attendance" means attendance by Northern Ireland Ministers.
Recognition etc. of implementation bodies.	68. - (1) The Secretary of State may make an order about any body which he considers is established for the purpose referred to in paragraph 9(ii) of Strand Two of the Belfast Agreement.
	(2) An order under this section may-
	(a) confer on the body the legal capacities of a body corporate;
	(b) confer on the body any function which the Secretary of State considers necessary or expedient for the purpose referred to in that paragraph;
	(c) make consequential or supplementary provisions, including provisions amending or repealing any Northern Ireland legislation.
	(3) The Secretary of State may out of money provided by Parliament make grants to any body about which he makes an order under this section.
	(4) Where the Secretary of State has made or proposes to make grants under subsection (3), an order under this section may make provision corresponding to paragraph 7 of Schedule 8.
	(5) Before revoking an order under this section, the Secretary of State shall have regard to whether the Assembly has by Act made provision corresponding to that made by the order.
	Judicial scrutiny
Devolution issues.	69. Schedule 11 (which makes provision in relation to devolution issues) shall have effect.
Powers of courts or tribunals to vary retrospective decisions.	70. - (1) This section applies where any court or tribunal decides that-
	(a) any provision of an Act of the Assembly is not within the legislative competence of the Assembly; or
	(b) a Minister or Northern Ireland department does not have the power to make, confirm or approve a provision of subordinate legislation that he or it has purported to make, confirm or approve.
	(2) The court or tribunal may make an order-
	(a) removing or limiting any retrospective effect of the decision; or
	(b) suspending the effect of the decision for any period and on any conditions to allow the defect to be corrected.
	(3) In deciding whether to make an order under this section, the court or tribunal shall (among other things) have regard to the extent to which persons who are not parties to the proceedings would otherwise be adversely affected.
	(4) Where a court or tribunal is considering whether to make an order under this section, it shall order notice of that fact to be given to the Attorney General for Northern Ireland unless he is a party to the proceedings or has been given notice under Schedule 11 of any devolution issue which has arisen in the proceedings.
	(5) Where the Attorney General is given notice under subsection (4), he may take part as a party in the proceedings so far as they relate to the making of the order.
	(6) Paragraphs 36 and 37 of Schedule 11 apply with necessary modifications for the purposes of subsections (4) and (5) as they apply for the purposes of that Schedule.
	(7) In this section "Minister" means the First Minister, the deputy First Minister or a Northern Ireland Minister.
The Judicial Committee.	71. - (1) Any decision of the Judicial Committee in proceedings under this Act shall be stated in open court and shall be binding in all legal proceedings (other than proceedings before the Committee).
	(2) No member of the Judicial Committee shall sit and act as a member of the Committee in proceedings under this Act unless he holds or has held-
	(a) the office of a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary; or
	(b) high judicial office as defined in section 25 of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 (ignoring for this purpose section 5 of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1887).
	(3) Her Majesty may by Order in Council-
	(a) confer on the Judicial Committee in relation to proceedings under this Act such powers as Her Majesty considers necessary or expedient;
	(b) apply the Judicial Committee Act 1833 in relation to proceedings under this Act with exceptions or modifications;
	(c) make rules for regulating the procedure in relation to proceedings under this Act before the Judicial Committee.
	(4) In this section "proceedings under this Act" means proceedings on a question referred to the Judicial Committee under section 10 or proceedings under Schedule 11.
	Power to make provision by Order in Council
Provision with respect to certain matters relating to Northern Ireland.	72. - (1) Her Majesty may by Order in Council make provision with respect to the following matters-
	(a) elections (but not the franchise) and boundaries in respect of district councils in Northern Ireland;
	(b) any reserved matter.
	(2) Her Majesty may by Order in Council make such amendments of the law of any part of the United Kingdom as appear to Her Majesty to be necessary or expedient in consequence of any provision made by or under-
	(a) Northern Ireland legislation; or
	(b) any Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed before this Act in so far as the provision is part of the law of Northern Ireland.
	(3) An Order in Council under subsection (1) or (2) may contain such consequential and supplemental provisions as appear to Her Majesty to be necessary or expedient.
	(4) No recommendation shall be made to Her Majesty to make an Order in Council under this section unless a draft of the Order has been laid before and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.
	(5) Subsection (4) does not apply to an Order in Council which-
	(a) is made under subsection (1)(b); and
	(b) declares that it has been made to appear to Her Majesty that by reason of urgency the Order requires to be made without a draft having been approved as mentioned in subsection (4).
	(6) Any such Order in Council as is mentioned in subsection (5)-
	(a) shall be laid before Parliament after being made; and
	(b) if at the end of the period of 40 days after the date on which it is made it has not been approved by resolution of each House, shall then cease to have effect (but without prejudice to anything previously done under it or to the making of a new Order).
	(7) In reckoning the period mentioned in subsection (6), no account shall be taken of any time during which Parliament is dissolved or prorogued or during which both Houses are adjourned for more than four days.
	(8) References to Acts of the Assembly in any enactment or instrument shall, so far as the context permits, be deemed to include references to Orders in Council under paragraph (b) of subsection (1).
	(9) Orders in Council under that paragraph may be omitted from any annual edition of statutory instruments made by virtue of section 8 of the Statutory Instruments Act 1946.
Provision for purposes consequential on Act etc.	73. - (1) Her Majesty may by Order in Council make such provision, including provision amending the law of any part of the United Kingdom, as appears to Her Majesty to be necessary or expedient in consequence of, or for giving full effect to, this Act or any Order under section 4.
	(2) Provision may be made for transferring, with effect from any date specified in an Order under section 4, any functions which immediately before that date are exercisable by a United Kingdom authority or a new or existing Northern Ireland authority-
	(a) in so far as they appear to Her Majesty to be concerned with a matter which on that date ceases to be a reserved matter, to a new or existing Northern Ireland authority;
	(b) in so far as they appear to Her Majesty to be concerned with a matter which on that date becomes a reserved matter, to a United Kingdom authority.
	(3) Provision may be made, to such extent as may appear to Her Majesty to be necessary or expedient in consequence of, or for giving full effect to, this Act or any Order under section 4-
	(a) for transferring or apportioning any property, rights or liabilities;
	(b) for substituting any authority for any other authority in any charter, contract or other document or in any legal proceedings;
	(c) for any other transitional or consequential matter.
	(4) No recommendation shall be made to Her Majesty to make an Order under this section unless a draft of it has been laid before and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.
	(5) In this section-
	"existing Northern Ireland authority" means any of the Northern Ireland Executive authorities within the meaning of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 and the Comptroller and Auditor-General for Northern Ireland;
	"new Northern Ireland authority" means the First Minister, the deputy First Minister, any of the Northern Ireland Ministers and any of the Northern Ireland departments;
	"United Kingdom authority" means the Privy Council, any Minister of the Crown, the Treasury, the Defence Council, the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, the Commissioners of Customs and Excise and the Comptroller and Auditor General.
	Miscellaneous
Assembly property.	74. - (1) Subject to subsection (2), all property which immediately before the commencement of this section was held in trust or used-
	(a) for the purposes of the Northern Ireland Assembly established under section 1 of the Northern Ireland Assembly Act 1973; or
	(b) partly for those purposes and partly for other purposes,
	shall on and after that commencement be applied for the purposes of the Assembly or such other purposes as the Department of the Environment may determine.
	(2) The Secretary of State may require the Department to make available to him in any premises comprised in the property mentioned in subsection (1) (other than the Parliament Buildings at Stormont) such accommodation and facilities as he may specify.
	(3) The Secretary of State shall in consideration of the use of any such accommodation and facilities make to the Department such payments out of money provided by Parliament as he and the Department may agree.
Land purchase annuities etc.	75. - (1) Subject to subsection (2), land purchase annuities shall be collected by the Department of Agriculture and paid into the Consolidated Fund of Northern Ireland.
	(2) A land purchase annuity may be extinguished by, or redeemed with the agreement of, the Department of Agriculture.
	(3) The Irish Land Purchase Fund shall be wound up and the money standing to its credit shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom.
	(4) In this section "land purchase annuities" means annuities for the repayment of advances made under any enactment relating to land purchase in Northern Ireland.

Prepared 28 July 1998