Serious Crime Bill [HL]

It probably comes down to the procedure that would need to be adopted. Before the court heard or listed the application, the applicant would have to make, in essence, an application wherein they would set out the grounds upon which they asserted there had been a change of circumstance that justified the court hearing an application for variation. If on the face of the document produced by the applicant there had been no material change in circumstance to justify such an application, the court would not entertain one because there had been no change of circumstances. That is the way it would have to work. It gives the court control of whether it thinks an application is merited. It is a bit like an application for leave. To make an application for leave you set out the basis upon which you assert that leave should be granted for an application to be made; the court looks at your application and makes an order. So far as I am aware, we have not yet produced any of the rules in relation to making applications because that would be presumptuous until the Bill comes through, but I respectfully suggest that the noble and learned Lord thinks about how the Supreme Court rules work at the moment; I anticipate that the procedure we will adopt will be very similar to that. It would have to be transparent and fair, and to have enough information to enable the court to come to an informed judgment; if not, I imagine, it would be capable of challenging the process. We have not got the rules yet, but that is how we anticipate it will work.