Amendments proposed to the Northern Ireland (offences) Bill - continued House of Commons

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Mr Laurence Robertson
Mr Henry Bellingham
Mr Ben Wallace
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Mr Jeremy Hunt

153

Clause     25,     page     13,     line     41,     leave out subsection (7).


NEW CLAUSES

Termination of inquiries

   

Mr Peter Robinson
Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson
Sammy Wilson

NC1

To move the following Clause:—

    'Following the coming into force of this Act, the Secretary of State—

(a) may not cause an inquiry to be held under section 1 of the Inquiries Act 2005 (c. 12) (power to establish inquiry) or any equivalent legislation, and

(b) shall end any such inquiry being held at that time,

    into the activities of any member of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Royal Ulster Constabulary or the armed forces, which occurred in Northern Ireland before 10th April 1998.'.


Certificates for offences committed in the course of efforts to combat terrorism in Northern Ireland

   

Mr Peter Robinson
Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson
Sammy Wilson

NC2

To move the following Clause:—

    '(1)   Where an application is made to the certification commissioner for a certificate of eligibility, the commissioner must issue a certificate if—

(a) the applicant is accused of an offence committed in the course of efforts to combat terrorism in Northern Ireland, and

(b) it appears to the commissioner, on the information available to him, that the applicant meets the conditions set out in section 3 above.

    (2)   The commissioner may preserve the anonymity of any person who makes an application under this section, if he sees fit.'.


Victims' rights and entitlements—eligibility certificates

   

Mr Peter Robinson
Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson
Sammy Wilson

NC3

To move the following Clause:—

    'In determining whether an applicant for an eligibility certificate meets the conditions set out in section 3 above, the commissioner shall give an opportunity for a victim, or the family of a victim, to make representations to him.'.


Victims' rights and entitlements—special tribunals

   

Mr Peter Robinson
Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson
Sammy Wilson

NC4

To move the following Clause:—

    '(1)   Before the Special Tribunal established under section 8 sentences an applicant who pleads guilty or is found guilty of an offence, it shall give an opportunity for a victim, or the family of a victim, to make representations to it.

    (2)   In passing sentence, the Special Tribunal shall take into account any representations made to it under subsection (1).'.


Civil proceedings unaffected

   

Mr Peter Robinson
Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson
Sammy Wilson

NC5

To move the following Clause:—

    'No evidence obtained pursuant to this Act shall be inadmissible in any civil proceedings nor shall anything in this Act limit the right of any person to pursue civil proceedings against an applicant.'.


Victims' applications

   

Mr Peter Robinson
Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson
Sammy Wilson

NC6

To move the following Clause:—

    '(1)   Six months after the coming into force of this Act, a victim, or the family of a victim, may apply to the Special Tribunal to try a person who meets the conditions set out in section 3(2) but who has not made an application for a certificate of eligibility.

    (2)   If an application is made under subsection (1), the Special Tribunal shall proceed to try the case as though the offender held a certificate of eligibility, in accordance with the provisions of section 8(3).

    (3)   A person found guilty of an offence by the Special Tribunal under the provisions of this section shall, if and when apprehended, serve the sentence set by the Special Tribunal.'.


Time limits for acceptance of applications for certificates of eligibility

   

Mr Peter Robinson
Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson
Sammy Wilson

NC7

To move the following Clause:—

    '(1)   No applications for certificates of eligibility will be accepted after six months following the coming into force of this Act from those believed to have committed offences.

    (2)   No applications for certificates of eligibility will be accepted from victims or victims' families after twelve months following the coming into force of this Act.'.


Reporting of applications for certificates

   

Lembit Öpik
Lorely Burt

NC8

To move the following Clause:—

    'Except where doing so would create a danger to the safety of any person, there shall be no restrictions on publishing details of any application for a certificate in a written report in or including a report of such an application in a relevant programme for reception in the United Kingdom.'.


Disqualification from district policing partnership

   

Lembit Öpik
Lorely Burt

NC9

To move the following Clause:—

    '(1)   Paragraph 8 of Schedule 3 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000 is amended as follows.

    (2)   In sub-paragraph (4) after "licence" insert "under the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998".

    (3)   After sub-paragraph (4)(a) insert—

"(aa) the lapse of his licence issued under section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Offences) Act 2006.".'.


Reporting of proceedings

   

Lembit Öpik
Lorely Burt

NC10

To move the following Clause:—

    'Except where the court has ruled that doing so would create a danger to the safety of any person, there shall be no restrictions on publishing details of any proceedings under sections 8, 12, 15, 16 or 17 of this Act in a written report in or including a report of such an application in a relevant programme for reception in the United Kingdom.'.


Expiry

   

Lembit Öpik
Lorely Burt

NC11

To move the following Clause:—

    'This Act shall cease to have any effect at the end of the period of five years beginning with the day on which it is brought into force.'.


Suspension of section 3

   

Mr Laurence Robertson
Mr Henry Bellingham
Mr Ben Wallace
Mr Tobias Ellwood
Mr Jeremy Hunt

NC12

To move the following Clause:—

    'The Secretary of State shall make an order suspending the operation of section 3 six months after the Act comes into force.'.


Trial in the Crown Court

   

Lembit Öpik
Lorely Burt

NC13

To move the following Clause:—

    '(1)   A person who holds a certificate of eligibility shall be tried for a certified offence in the Crown Court.

    (2)   The Crown Court may, not under this section, try any offence that is not a certified offence.

    (3)   There is an obligation on a defendant to appear before the Crown Court.'.


Review by Court of Appeal

   

Lembit Öpik
Lorely Burt

NC14

To move the following Clause:—

    '(1)   The exercise of functions under this Act by—

(a) the certification commissioner, or

(b) the Secretary of State,

    may be questioned in legal proceedings only the Court of Appeal.

    (2)   The Court of Appeal is the appropriate tribunal for the purposes of section 7 of the Human Rights Act 1998 (c. 42) in relation to proceedings all or part of which call into question the exercise of any of the functions under this Act of—

(a) the certification commissioner, or

(b) the Secretary of State.'.


Appeal to Court of Appeal

   

Lembit Öpik
Lorely Burt

NC15

To move the following Clause:—

    '(1)   A person convicted of an offence at the Crown Court may appeal to the Court of Appeal.

    (2)   He may appeal—

(a) against his conviction, on any ground;

(b) against sentence passed on conviction, unless the sentence is fixed by law.

    (3)   For the purposes of subsection (2) (b) an order under Article 5 (1) or (3) of the Life Sentences (Northern Ireland) Order 2001 (S.I., 2001 / 2564 (N.I. 2)) (tariffs etc., in life sentence cases) is a sentence passed on conviction (but not a sentence fixed by law).

    (4)   No leave is required for an appeal to be brought under this section.

    (5)   There is no appeal from the Court of Appeal exercising jurisdiction under this section.'.


Review of appeals commissioners by Court of Appeal

   

Lembit Öpik
Lorely Burt

NC16

To move the following Clause:—

    '(1)   The exercise of functions under this Act by the appeals commissioners may be questioned in legal proceedings only before the Court of Appeal.

    (2)   The Court of Appeal is the appropriate tribunal for the purposes of section 7 of the Human Rights Act 1998 (c. 42) in relation to proceedings all or part of which call into question the exercise of any of the functions under this Act of the appeals commissioners.

    (3)   There is no appeal from the Court of Appeal exercising jurisdiction under this section.'.


Trial in the Crown Court (No.2)

   

Lady Hermon

NC17

To move the following Clause:—

    '(1)   A person who holds a certificate of eligibility shall be tried for the offences certified in that certificate in the Crown Court.

    (2)   Nothing in this Act shall affect the powers of the Crown Court with regard to the conduct of its proceedings and in particular its power to compel the attendance of the accused.

    (3)   Notwithstanding the Interception of Communications Act 1985, intercepted communications shall be admissible in proceedings concerning a person who holds a certificate of eligibility and subject to the overriding control of the court may only be adduced by the prosecution.

    (4)   Intercepted communications shall not be subject to any form of discovery by the accused.'.



 
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