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A | |
Bill | |
To | |
Make provision in connection with the establishment under international law | |
of an independent commission with monitoring functions in relation to | |
Northern Ireland; to make further provision about exclusion from Ministerial | |
office in Northern Ireland; to make provision about reduction of remuneration | |
of members of the Northern Ireland Assembly; to make provision about | |
reduction of financial assistance under the Financial Assistance for Political | |
Parties Act (Northern Ireland) 2000; to make provision about censure | |
resolutions of the Northern Ireland Assembly; and for connected purposes. | |
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and | |
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present | |
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:— | |
Monitoring Commission | |
1 The Monitoring Commission | |
(1) In this Act, “the Monitoring Commission” means an independent organisation | |
established, by an agreement made in connection with the affairs of Northern | |
Ireland between Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom and the | 5 |
Government of Ireland, to carry out functions which include— | |
(a) monitoring activity by paramilitary groups, | |
(b) monitoring security normalisation, and | |
(c) reporting on claims relating to commitment to the observing of terms | |
of the pledge of office set out in Schedule 4 to the Northern Ireland Act | 10 |
1998 (c. 47). | |
(2) The Secretary of State may by order— | |
(a) confer on the Monitoring Commission the legal capacities of a body | |
corporate; | |
(b) confer on the Monitoring Commission, in such cases, to such extent and | 15 |
with such modifications as the order may specify, any of the privileges | |
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and immunities set out in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the International | |
Organisations Act 1968 (c. 48); | |
(c) confer on members and servants of the Monitoring Commission and | |
members of their families who form part of their households, in such | |
cases, to such extent and with such modifications as the order may | 5 |
specify, any of the privileges and immunities set out in Parts 2, 3 and 5 | |
of that Schedule; | |
(d) make provision about the waiver of privileges and immunities. | |
(3) The reference in subsection (2)(c) to servants of the Monitoring Commission | |
includes agents of, and persons carrying out work for or giving advice to, the | 10 |
Monitoring Commission. | |
(4) An order under subsection (2)— | |
(a) may make different provision for different cases (including different | |
provision for different persons), and | |
(b) shall be made by statutory instrument which shall be subject to | 15 |
annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament. | |
(5) The Secretary of State— | |
(a) may make payments to the Monitoring Commission or to members of | |
the Monitoring Commission, and | |
(b) may provide for the Monitoring Commission such premises and | 20 |
facilities, and the services of such staff, as he thinks appropriate. | |
2 Commission’s duty to avoid prejudicial effects | |
(1) The Monitoring Commission shall not do anything in carrying out its functions | |
which might— | |
(a) prejudice the national security interests of the United Kingdom or | 25 |
Ireland, | |
(b) put at risk the safety or life of any person, or | |
(c) have a prejudicial effect on any present or future legal proceedings. | |
(2) The duty under subsection (1) is owed to Her Majesty’s Government in the | |
United Kingdom. | 30 |
3 Laying of Commission reports before Parliament | |
Where a report of the Monitoring Commission, or a report made by members | |
of the Commission under the agreement establishing the Commission, is | |
delivered by the Commission, or by members of the Commission, to Her | |
Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom, the Secretary of State shall lay | 35 |
a copy of the report before each House of Parliament. | |
Exclusion from Ministerial office | |
4 Resolutions about exclusion | |
(1) Section 30 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (c. 47) (exclusion of Ministers from | |
office) is amended as follows. | 40 |
(2) In subsection (1) (exclusion of individual Minister), for “a period of twelve | |
months beginning with the date of the resolution” there is substituted “such | |
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period of not less than three months, and not more than twelve months, | |
beginning with the date of the resolution as the resolution may provide”. | |
(3) After that subsection there is inserted— | |
“(1A) The Assembly may, before a period of exclusion under subsection (1) | |
comes to an end, by resolution extend it until the end of such period of | 5 |
not less than three months, and not more than twelve months, | |
beginning with the date of the resolution as the resolution may | |
provide.” | |
(4) In subsection (2) (exclusion of members of party from holding office as | |
Ministers or junior Ministers), for “a period of twelve months beginning with | 10 |
the date of the resolution” there is substituted “such period of not less than six | |
months, and not more than twelve months, beginning with the date of the | |
resolution as the resolution may provide”. | |
(5) For subsection (3) there is substituted— | |
“(3) The Assembly may, before a period of exclusion under subsection (2) | 15 |
comes to an end, by resolution extend it until the end of such period of | |
not less than six months, and not more than twelve months, beginning | |
with the date of the resolution as the resolution may provide.” | |
(6) In subsection (4) (ending exclusion), after “A period of exclusion” there is | |
inserted “under subsection (1) or (2)”. | 20 |
(7) For subsections (6) and (7) there is substituted— | |
“(6) If the Secretary of State is of the opinion that the Assembly ought to | |
consider a resolution under this section, he shall serve a notice on the | |
Presiding Officer requiring him to move a motion for such a resolution. | |
(7) In forming an opinion under subsection (6), the Secretary of State shall | 25 |
in particular take into account— | |
(a) whether the person or party concerned is committed to the use | |
now and in the future of only democratic and peaceful means to | |
achieve his or its objectives; | |
(b) whether he or it has ceased to be involved in any acts of violence | 30 |
or of preparation for violence; | |
(c) whether he or it is directing or promoting acts of violence by | |
other persons; | |
(d) whether he or it is co-operating fully with any Commission of | |
the kind referred to in section 7 of the Northern Ireland Arms | 35 |
Decommissioning Act 1997 (c. 7) in implementing the | |
Decommissioning section of the Belfast Agreement; and | |
(e) any recommendation about steps the Assembly might consider | |
taking which is contained in a report— | |
(i) made by the Commission mentioned in section 1 of the | 40 |
Northern Ireland (Monitoring Commission) Act 2003, or | |
(ii) made under the agreement establishing that | |
Commission by members of that Commission.” | |
(8) At the end there is inserted— | |
“(9) In this section, a reference to a period of exclusion under any provision | 45 |
is, in the case of a period of exclusion under that provision which has | |
been extended, a reference to that period as extended.” | |
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5 Secretary of State’s powers in relation to exclusion | |
(1) After section 30 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (c. 47) there is inserted— | |
“30A Secretary of State’s powers in relation to exclusion | |
(1) This section applies if— | |
(a) the Monitoring Commission has, or members of that | 5 |
Commission have under the agreement establishing it, made a | |
report containing a recommendation about steps the Assembly | |
might consider taking; | |
(b) the taking of those steps by the Assembly requires the passing | |
by it of a resolution under section 30(1), (1A), (2) or (3) in | 10 |
relation to a Minister, junior Minister or political party; and | |
(c) the first motion for a resolution under that provision in relation | |
to the Minister, junior Minister or political party concerned that | |
is put to the vote after the making of the report does not attract | |
cross-community support. | 15 |
(2) Where this section applies because of the failure of a motion for a | |
resolution under section 30(1), the Secretary of State may by direction | |
exclude the Minister or junior Minister concerned from holding office | |
as a Minister or junior Minister for such period of not less than three | |
months, and not more than twelve months, beginning with the date of | 20 |
the direction as the direction may provide (subject to subsection (4)). | |
(3) Where this section applies because of the failure of a motion for a | |
resolution under section 30(1A), the Secretary of State may, before the | |
period of exclusion to which the motion related comes to an end, by | |
direction extend it until the end of such period of not less than three | 25 |
months, and not more than twelve months, beginning with the date of | |
the direction as the direction may provide (subject to subsection (4)). | |
(4) The Secretary of State may exercise the power under subsection (2) or | |
(3) only if he is satisfied that the Minister or junior Minister | |
concerned— | 30 |
(a) is not committed to non-violence and exclusively peaceful and | |
democratic means; or | |
(b) has failed to observe any other terms of the pledge of office. | |
(5) Where this section applies because of the failure of a motion for a | |
resolution under section 30(2), the Secretary of State may by direction | 35 |
exclude members of the political party concerned from holding office | |
as Ministers or junior Ministers for such period of not less than six | |
months, and not more than twelve months, beginning with the date of | |
the direction as the direction may provide (subject to subsection (7)). | |
(6) Where this section applies because of the failure of a motion for a | 40 |
resolution under section 30(3), the Secretary of State may, before the | |
period of exclusion to which the motion related comes to an end, by | |
direction extend it until the end of such period of not less than six | |
months, and not more than twelve months, beginning with the date of | |
the direction as the direction may provide (subject to subsection (7)). | 45 |
(7) The Secretary of State may exercise the power under subsection (5) or | |
(6) only if he is satisfied that the political party concerned— | |
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(a) is not committed to non-violence and exclusively peaceful and | |
democratic means; or | |
(b) is not committed to such of its members as are or might become | |
Ministers or junior Ministers observing the other terms of the | |
pledge of office. | 5 |
(8) A period of exclusion under subsection (2) or (5) shall come to an end | |
if— | |
(a) the Secretary of State by direction so provides; or | |
(b) the Assembly is dissolved. | |
(9) In subsection (1)(a) “the Monitoring Commission” means the | 10 |
Commission mentioned in section 1 of the Northern Ireland | |
(Monitoring Commission) Act 2003. | |
(10) In this section, a reference to a period of exclusion under any provision | |
is, in the case of a period of exclusion under that provision which has | |
been extended, a reference to that period as extended.” | 15 |
(2) In section 18 of that Act (which provides for the filling of Ministerial offices), in | |
subsection (1) (occasions when offices are to be filled in accordance with the | |
section), for paragraph (d) there is substituted— | |
“(d) a direction which causes one or more Ministerial offices to | |
become vacant is given under section 30A(5); | 20 |
(da) a period of exclusion under section 30(2) or 30A(5) comes to an | |
end; or”. | |
(3) In subsection (12)(b) of that section (application of section where party | |
excluded under section 30(2)), after “party’s period of exclusion” there is | |
inserted “under that provision”. | 25 |
(4) In that section, after subsection (12) there is inserted— | |
“(12A) Where— | |
(a) the Secretary of State has given a direction under section 30A(5) | |
in respect of a political party; and | |
(b) the party’s period of exclusion under that provision has not | 30 |
come to an end, | |
the party shall be disregarded for the purposes of any application of | |
subsections (2) to (6).” | |
(5) At the end of that section there is inserted— | |
“(14) In this section, a reference to a period of exclusion under any provision | 35 |
is, in the case of a period of exclusion under that provision which has | |
been extended, a reference to that period as extended.” | |
(6) In section 30 of that Act (exclusion of Ministers from office by resolution of the | |
Assembly)— | |
(a) in subsection (1A) (power to extend period of exclusion under | 40 |
subsection (1)), after “subsection (1)” there is inserted “or section | |
30A(2)”, and | |
(b) in subsection (3) (power to extend period of exclusion under subsection | |
(2)), after “subsection (2)” there is inserted “or section 30A(5)”. | |
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