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John McDonnell: I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
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Dr. Evan Harris: I beg to move amendment No. 27, in page 21, line 14, at end insert—
'(2A) A person established by an Act of the Scottish Parliament and whose principal duties relate to human rights and are similar to any of the Commission's duties under section 9 shall be taken to have title and interest in relation to the subject matter of any legal proceedings in Scotland which it has capacity to institute, or in which it has capacity to intervene by virtue of subsection (1).'.
The amendment is about legal matters in Scotland. I am not a lawyer and I am not Scottish, so I shall speak briefly and hope that the Minister can let me know whether there is a concern. I will probably find myself forced to accept what she says.
The powers in the clause were amended in the House of Lords following an amendment tabled in Committee by my noble friend Lord Lester. This was responded to by the Government at a later stage by effectively disapplying parts of section 7 of the Human Rights Act. However, it is not clear that the provision would allow a Scottish commissioner to have the same powers without this change in statute in UK law.
Elsewhere in the Bill, we have made provision for the Scottish Parliament, if it decides to have a human rights commissioner, to have similar powers. Therefore, I seek to probe whether there has been an omission in the drafting. I fear that the amendment may not be quite right, which I regret, but I would be grateful if the Minister explained whether the change was necessary or whether we would need further primary legislation if the Scottish Parliament chose to go down this path, the idea being that we should not stop it doing so.
Meg Munn: The legal effect of this amendment is highly ambiguous and for that reason alone the Government must oppose it. In particular, the reference to clause 31(1) does not work. If the purpose is to override the victim test in section 7 of the Human Rights Act, we do not think the amendment is clear enough to achieve it. However, it is clear that the amendment is intended to deal with a matter—namely, the powers of a person established by Act of the Scottish Parliament—that falls within the area of devolved competence of the Scottish Parliament. It is therefore not a matter on which this House can properly legislate without the consent of the Scottish Parliament.
If and when a Scottish commissioner for human rights is established by Act of the Scottish Parliament, it will be possible to consider whether any further provisions need to be made in relation to reserved legislation to give the commissioner the powers that he or she needs to carry out their duties. If so, the appropriate way to deliver the objective would be by way of an order under section 104 of the Scotland Act 1998. Such an order would be taken forward by agreement between the Government and the Scottish Executive, and would be subject to scrutiny here in Parliament.
The Bill to create the post of commissioner is still only in its early stages of scrutiny at Holyrood. It is simply premature for us to be second-guessing the debate that
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will take place there about the powers of the proposed commissioner. I trust that the hon. Gentleman has been reassured.
Dr. Harris: I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Mr. Grieve: In light of the lead amendment in this group, amendment No. 19, not being moved, I beg to move amendment No. 30, in page 29, line 23, leave out 'not in good faith.'.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: With this it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments: No. 31, in clause 46, page 30, line 13, leave out 'reasonably.'.
No. 32, in clause 52, page 35, line 44, at end insert—
'( ) action in relation to the holding of acts of worship or other religious observance by or on behalf of the public authority.'.
No. 34, in clause 57, page 39, line 3, leave out paragraph (b) and insert—
'(b) in order to avoid conflicting with the strongly held religious convictions or beliefs of a significant number of persons of the religion or belief to which the organisation relates.'.
No. 35, in clause 59, page 39, line 36, leave out paragraph (b) and insert—
'(b) in order to avoid conflicting with the strongly held religious convictions or beliefs of a significant number of persons of the religion or belief to which the institution relates.'.
No. 39, in clause 60, page 40, line 2, after 'charity', insert
'with an ethos based on religion or belief.'.
No. 40, in clause 60, page 40, line 11, at end add—
'(c) it can demonstrate that it has an ethos based on religion or belief.'.
Mr. Grieve: Given the amount of time left, this intervention will be exceptionally brief, but I have waited long enough for it. In Committee, we considered at great length the issues surrounding discrimination on the ground of religion. I continue to have some concerns about two areas. First, clause 45 provides that one may discriminate against somebody who is bringing an allegation against one only if one is satisfied that that allegation is not being brought in good faith, as well as being false. That is an almost insurmountable test. Of course it may be—
It being Nine o'clock, Mr. Deputy Speaker proceeded to put the Question already proposed from the Chair, pursuant to Order [21 November 2005].
Amendment negatived.
Mr. Deputy Speaker then proceeded to put the Questions necessary to dispose of the business to be concluded at that hour.
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Amendment made: No. 12, in page 30, line 14, leave out 'to refuse' and insert 'refusing'.—[Meg Munn.]
Amendment made: No. 15, in, page 32, line 16, leave out '49(1)' and insert
'49(1)(a), (b) and (c)(i) and (ii)'.—[Meg Munn.]
Amendment made: No. 14, in clause 77, page 46, line 27, at end add—
'(2) For regulation 3(1)(a) of the Regulations substitute—
"(a) on the grounds of the religion or belief of B or of any other person except A (whether or not it is also A's religion or belief) A treats B less favourably than he treats or would treat other persons;"
(3) Omit regulation 3(2) of the Regulations."'.—[Meg Munn.]
Mr. Grieve: On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I feel obliged to hope that you might point out to those in charge of the business of this House that it has become clear that the time available for considering the Bill on Report has been insufficient. No one has suggested during today's proceedings that there has been any delay or filibustering, but having concluded consideration on Report, there are one or two outstanding matters that ought to have been considered.
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