Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Bill

This group of amendments may turn out to generate a rather less stimulating debate than the previous one, and—who knows?—perhaps a shorter one, dealing as it does with a number of technical but necessary amendments. Amendments Nos. 32, 33 and 34 deal with drafting and amend the definition of ““proscribed organisation”” in the Bill. Clause 1(9) currently defines a proscribed organisation in relation to membership only. That is fine for condition 1, which covers membership, but not for conditions 2 and 3, which refer to offences committed or actions carried out on behalf of a proscribed organisation. Having considered this issue very carefully, we feel that there is a small risk—I emphasise that it is small—that a defendant might use that slight ambiguity to challenge a certificate that has been issued, simply on the ground that they are not a member of a proscribed organisation. These amendments therefore clarify the situation regarding a potential very small loophole in the legislation. As I turn to amendment No. 35, the arrival of the Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, East (Bridget Prentice) is timely, given that she dealt with these issues in Committee. It is, and has always been, our intention that, following a juror check, the police or officers of the court would be in a position to share relevant information with other people, particularly prosecution counsel—always, of course, in accordance with jury check guidelines. As drafted, subsection (7) of proposed new article 26B would prevent officers of the court or police officers from sharing such information with key people, including prosecution counsel, so we simply want to replace the word ““by”” with the word ““to””, which will make the sharing of such information possible. I am sure that Members will see that that strengthens the protection of the interests of justice. Amendment agreed to. Amendment made: No. 33, page 2, line 15, leave out subsection (9).—[Paul Goggins.]