Select Committee on Merits of Statutory Instruments Thirtieth Report

other instruments of interest

DRAFT INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (REMAND TIME) ORDER 2008

13.  This Order is necessary to comply with the requirements of the International Criminal Court Act 2001, Part 2 of which sets out an expedited procedure for the arrest and surrender of persons suspected of war crimes or crimes against humanity. In cases of urgency the ICC may request the provisional arrest of a person alleged to have committed such a crime. The Order specifies that, pending receipt of a warrant issued under section 2 of the Act, a British court may on any single occasion remand a person for a maximum period of 18 days, up to a total of 60 days. This follows the precedents set by the United Nations (International Tribunal) (Former Yugoslavia) Order 1996 and United Nations (International Tribunal) (Rwanda) Order 1996.

DRAFT LOCAL ELECTIONS (ORDINARY DAY OF ELECTIONS IN 2009) ORDER 2008

14.  The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) have laid this Order, which moves the ordinary day of elections to county, district and parish councils in England in 2009 to the same day as the date of the poll for the European Parliamentary election - i.e., from Thursday 7 May to Thursday 4 June 2009. DCLG carried out consultation on the proposal between May and August 2008, and state that over 76% of those who responded were in favour of moving the ordinary day of elections in this way, although some (22%) placed conditions on their support. DCLG's Explanatory Memorandum (EM) says that the Electoral Commission stated their support for moving local elections, since this would be less confusing for voters and candidates than holding two separate polls within a short space of time. However, the EM does not bring out the point made in DCLG's summary of consultation responses (on the Department's website) that, despite its support in this case, the Commission generally wishes to see the combination of elections minimised. The summary document acknowledges that the Commission has recommended that that there should be research on the effect of the combination of polls; while welcoming this recommendation, DCLG have said that the Government are not best placed to undertake such research.

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE (DIRECTIONS BY STRATEGIC HEALTH AUTHORITIES TO PRIMARY CARE TRUSTS REGARDING ARRANGEMENTS FOR INVOLVEMENT) REGULATIONS 2008 (SI 2008/ 2496); AND

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE (DIRECTIONS BY STRATEGIC HEALTH AUTHORITIES TO PRIMARY CARE TRUSTS REGARDING ARRANGEMENTS FOR INVOLVEMENT) (NO 2) REGULATIONS 2008 (SI 2008/2677)

15.  The National Health Service (Directions by Strategic Health Authorities to Primary Care Trusts (PCT) Regarding Arrangements for Involvement) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/ 2496) were laid on 23 September to allow SHAs to discharge all or part of the PCTs' duty to involve service users, for example through such mechanisms as LINks. There are times when allowing aggregation is more efficient or cost effective; however, without this modification PCTs would be in breach of their statutory duty. Unfortunately the instrument was laid prematurely and had to be revoked and replaced by National Health Service (Directions by Strategic Health Authorities to Primary Care Trusts Regarding Arrangements for Involvement) (No 2) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/2677) which were laid on 10 October. We remind the Department of Health of the recommendation in our report The Management of Secondary Legislation: follow-up[5] that:

Departments need to take a more active approach to ensure that senior policy officials systematically check the material they intend to lay before Parliament for efficacy, accuracy and completeness.

NURSING AND MIDWIFERY COUNCIL (CONSTITUTION) ORDER 2008 (SI 2008/2553)

GENERAL MEDICAL COUNCIL (CONSTITUTION) ORDER 2008 (SI 2008/2554)

16.  These Orders conclude for the General Medical Council (GMC) and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) the changes envisaged in the White Paper Assuring independence: the governance and accountability of the professional regulators. From 1 January 2009 both organisations will have a revised constitution. From that date the GMC will consist of 24 members, made up of 12 lay and 12 professional members and the Nursing and Midwifery Council of 14 members, made up of 7 lay and 7 professional members. All members of these Councils will be appointed by the Privy Council, although in practice this function will be delegated to the Appointments Commission.

17.  The changes to the size and composition of the Council have been controversial in both professions with a majority who responded to the consultation preferring to retain a professional majority and, particularly among nurses, a representational function for their particular constituency. However this is contrary to the Government's policy that the Councils should regulate the profession on behalf of the public and not allow purely professional concerns to dominate their work. Accordingly, the Government have not changed their proposals to reflect these concerns.

POLICE AND CRIMINAL EVIDENCE ACT 1984 (CODES OF PRACTICE) (REVISIONS TO CODE A) ORDER 2008 (SI 2008/2638)

18.  This Order introduces a pilot scheme with the potential to make more effective use of police time. PACE Code A currently requires officers to make a full record of any occasion where they have stopped someone to give account of themselves and to give that person a copy immediately. The pilot scheme will simplify the data recorded and allow the officer to give the stopped person a receipt only at the time and notify them of how to access the report. It will be limited to officers operating from in the following force areas: Leicestershire, Staffordshire, Surrey, West Midlands, Essex, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Nottinghamshire, South Wales, Thames Valley and West Yorkshire. The pilot scheme evaluation will consider the impact on police accountability and police bureaucracy and whether the protections for the individual set out in Code A are maintained. We welcome the initiative which arose out of Parliamentary debates on what became section 11 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and has been considered by the Commons' Home Affairs Select Committee.

LEGAL SERVICES ACT 2007 (PRESCRIBED CHARITY) ORDER 2008 (SI 2008/2680)

19.  Section 194 of the Legal Services Act 2007 enables the court to make, in civil proceedings where a party has received pro-bono (free of charge) legal representation, an order against another party to make a payment to the charity in respect of the pro bono representation. This provision removes the anomaly whereby an unsuccessful party in a case where the successful party was represented on a pro bono basis could benefit from the courts' inability to order that unsuccessful party to pay a sum (equivalent to costs), due to the operation of the indemnity principle. It will create a more level playing field in these cases by making both parties liable for costs or a payment equivalent to costs. The sums awarded in these cases will go, not to the lawyers providing the pro bono representation, but to a single charity, prescribed by this Order as the Access to Justice Foundation. This charity will administer and distribute the monies received to voluntary organisations that provide free of charge legal support for individuals and communities.

SOCIAL SECURITY (MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS) (NO. 4) REGULATIONS 2008 (SI 2008/2424)

20.  We sought further information from the Department for Work and Pensions about the Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 4) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/2424), which we drew to the special attention of the House in our 28th Report[6]. The correspondence is printed at the Appendix.

---

5   13th Report (HL Paper 70) paragraph 9 Back

6   28th Report (HL Paper 171) Back