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Lembit Öpik: I am slightly concerned about what the hon. Gentleman just said. Does he accept that strategic decisions about the legal system should not be made on the grounds that we currently have a tactical difficulty in regard to devolution? That would set a precedent that would unquestionably be used by opponents of devolution in Northern Ireland.
Mr. Lidington: Strategic decisions on criminal justice were established by the Criminal Justice Review and the 2002 Act that followed it. The Bill's proposals are being produced with very little notice, apparently as a consequence of the joint declaration of 2003. It is those proposals, in my view, that fail the test of a strategic analysis of the criminal justice system that the hon. Gentleman wants to be applied.
Clause 2 goes to the heart of the Bill. It requires those responsible for appointing lay members of the commission to try to ensure that membership is
- "reflective of the community in Northern Ireland."
The Government have, of course, been full of reassuring words. They say that this is all about putting more women and members of ethnic communities on to
the bench. I have no quarrel with that aspiration, provided that appointments are made strictly on merit. I should like more women and members of ethnic minorities to seek successful careers in the law in Northern Ireland, and to gain places on the bench in due course. I fear, however, that no matter what the Secretary of State may intend, the Bill's wording may result in every appointment being pored over in an attempt to access its impact on the overall political and sectarian balance of the commission's membership.
Mr. Roy Beggs (East Antrim) (UUP): Surely it would be impossible to achieve such a balance if those to whom positions were offered did not accept them.
Mr. Lidington: The hon. Gentleman is probably right, but there are other problems too. If the commission's membership must indeed be reflective of the community, a number of its members will presumably have to come from a certain political tradition—that of Sinn Fein, which currently remains, in the Government's own words, "inextricably linked" to an illegal terrorist organisation, and which the Irish Republic's Minister of Justice has publicly accused of making money from organised crime. Worse, a similar kind of political analysis is likely to be applied to the commission's recommendations for the appointment of new judges. The duty to produce a judiciary that is reflective of the community in Northern Ireland surely contradicts the Government's declared commitment, which it continues to make, to the principle that judges should be appointed solely on merit. If the Bill is passed unamended, two contradictory principles will govern judicial appointments.
Lest the Secretary of State think that this is just a complaint from a political opponent, let me refer him to the comments of one whose views I know the Government respect. On Second Reading of the Bill that became the 2002 Act, Lord Hutton said:
- "It is clearly vital that a judge should be appointed on merit alone and that appointments should not be influenced by political considerations. That is all the more important in the highly charged political atmosphere of Northern Ireland. If judges are not appointed on merit the administration of justice will suffer, as will public confidence in that administration."—[Official Report, House of Lords, 3 May 2002; Vol. 634, c. 969.]
- "paramilitarism and sectarian violence must be brought to an end, from whichever part of the community they come."
Mr. Paul Murphy: It would be inaccurate to describe the Bill as in any way a concession as far as Sinn Fein, or indeed any party, is concerned. As the hon. Gentleman said, it arose from the joint declaration; but it also arose from a commitment made before that, at the time of the Good Friday agreement. We are moving ahead in terms of criminal justice, which I think is something that everyone wants. It is not a concession to anyone; it is part of an agreement. I know that my hon. Friends in the SDLP, for example, would take exception to the hon. Gentleman's views.
Mr. Lidington: I am perfectly willing to concede that SDLP Members will take a principled position of support for the reforms being incorporated in the Bill.
David Burnside: I am sure that, on reflection, my hon. Friend will agree that this would be better described as an SDLP Bill. The joint declaration did not, of course, have the consent of the Unionist population.
Mr. Lidington: In pressing ahead with the Bill and giving it such high priority, the Government are making the mistake of letting themselves be seen to be making yet another one-sided concession in Northern Ireland, at a time when the major problem with the political process is the near despair of so many members of the Unionist community about the progress so far towards ending paramilitary activity. I think that the Bill will do nothing to reassure the thousands of decent people who desperately wanted the Good Friday agreement to succeed, and who believed the Prime Minister's handwritten pledges that it and all that followed would bring about a final end to terrorism—the acts of completion of which the joint declaration speaks.
We need more from the Government than the words of condemnation at the beginning of the Secretary of State's speech. In the light of events of recent weeks, it is not enough to carry on as if nothing at all has changed and to conduct business as normal with militant republicans. A clear message must be sent to paramilitary groups, republican and loyalist, that they cannot expect to be treated as full democratic partners in Northern Ireland if they persist with paramilitary activity, which they agreed to forswear at the time of the Good Friday agreement.
The Government should put the Bill on ice and replace it with a criminal justice Bill that deals with the immediate problems of crime and disorder in Northern Ireland. Their failure to address the priorities of the people of Northern Ireland is the reason why we intend to press our amendment tonight.
2.11 pm
Mr. Seamus Mallon (Newry and Armagh) (SDLP): I shall refer to two points that struck me forcibly in case I forget them.
First, the hon. Member for Aylesbury (Mr. Lidington) referred to racially motivated attacks, and he was right to do so because they are increasing. One of the difficulties is that people who are in or on the fringes of paramilitary groups carry out those attacks in such a way that many of those who suffer cannot receive compensation because the Chief Constable cannot give them Chief Constable certificates, which means that they cannot be recompensed through the Compensation Agency. The issue is serious, and I am glad that the hon. Member for Aylesbury raises it.
Secondly, it is ironic that the Ulster Unionist party has remarkable confidence in the international monitoring commission and lacks confidence in a judicial appointments commission made up of people from the north of Ireland—indeed, it opposes such a commission. Perhaps we should examine that irony in the context of this debate.
I have advocated devolution of the powers of policing and criminal justice for a long time. In the 1970s, devolution—even administrative devolution—was a pipe dream, and to think about devolution of policing powers and criminal justice was a mild form of insanity. When I raised the issue in my party in the middle to late '70s, I was reminded that we were a sensible party that did and said sensible things, and that we hoped to remain that way. It shows how far we have come that we are once again legislating on such matters on the Floor of this House.
I assure the House and the Secretary of State that I welcome the Bill, because some of the points that I make later may not indicate that. I support the concepts behind the Bill and want to support devolution, which is one of the key elements that we must address.
What type of being is the body politic in Northern Ireland? It has administrative devolution for what are known as the normal Government Departments, a system of north-south arrangements and arrangements between Ireland north, Ireland south and Britain, but it does not have responsibility for the most important issues in its own life—sustaining the police service and the criminal justice system. It is an unfortunate orphan. Such devolution cannot survive because the body politic refuses to take the important issues and say, "Yes, we have confidence in devolution. We will take the good bits along with the bad bits because we have confidence in what is known as devolution and in the need for us to deal with policing and criminal justice."
For too long, we have all, whatever our political point of view, had the luxury of criticising those who are responsible for such matters—those who have sat on these Benches down the years, those within the police and those within the judicial system. That we can take responsibility is a sign that devolution is a maturing political process. We should proceed with the Bill and with the devolution of powers.
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