Northern Ireland Bill (Allocation of Time)

I begin by thanking hon. Members for their support on Second Reading, which sent an important message from the House. Clause 1 provides for schedule 1, which makes provision for the new departmental model proposed by the Northern Ireland First Minister and Deputy First Minister. The Bill will insert that model into the Northern Ireland Act 1998, in addition to the existing models. It does not require that it be used, but simply adds it to the menu. Schedule 1 is split into three parts. Part 1 deals with preliminary issues, in effect positioning the schedule within the list of excepted matters in schedule 2 to the 1998 Act. Part 2 amends section 21A of, and schedule 4A to, the 1998 Act to make provision for the new departmental model. The defining features of that model are that it would consist of a single Minister, nominated by any member of the Assembly, elected by a cross-community vote in the Assembly and removed in the same way. The Justice Minister would not count towards parties’ allocation of seats on the Executive under the d’Hondt formula. I recognise that concerns have been expressed in a number of quarters about whether the arrangements provided for in the Bill for appointing and removing the Justice Minister are appropriate and proportionate. I will try to deal with those concerns, but let me begin by saying that the Government take them very seriously. We understand why hon. Members may have concerns, but I hope that it will be possible for me to alleviate some of them. Amendments 19 to 21, standing in the name of the hon. Member for Foyle (Mark Durkan) and his party colleagues, would require any Member nominated for the post of Justice Minister to have the consent of the nominating officer of their party before that nomination could take place and would provide for the nominating officer of the relevant party to have the ability to dismiss the Justice Minister. The role of the nominating officer in the process of appointing and removing the Justice Minister is not a new idea, as has been said this afternoon. Indeed, it was at the hon. Gentleman’s suggestion that such a role was made a feature of the other models set out in the Northern Ireland Act 1998. However, the model that we are setting out in the Bill is not bound to reflect what happens in the other models, and such a role as proposed by the hon. Gentleman was not a feature of the model set out in the Assembly and Executive Review Committee report, which was approved by the Assembly on 20 January. In bringing forward legislation setting out that model, the Government have rightly been guided by the recommendations of that committee and by the views of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, as co-chairs of the Executive. I recognise that the Assembly’s endorsement of the AERC report was not unanimous—I am sure that the hon. Gentleman would wish to draw that to my attention—and that concerns were expressed during the debate on that report. However, the fact remains that the report—and, therefore, the model set out in the Bill—was approved in a cross-community vote in the Assembly by 51 to 16. That is a significant seal of approval for the model from the democratically elected representatives of the people of Northern Ireland. Therefore, any departure from the structure set out in that report and endorsed by the Assembly would be a departure from the wishes of the Assembly. It is for that reason that we should accept the wishes of the democratic majority in the Assembly and not accept those amendments. Amendment 7, which was tabled by the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Mr. Paterson) and his colleagues, also relates to the appointment of the Minister. The amendment would prevent the Justice Minister from taking up office until he had made""a solemn declaration to respect the operational independence of the Chief Constable…and…judiciary"." I understand the basis for amendment 7 and support the sentiments behind it. The protections that it seeks, however, are already provided elsewhere in legislation. Section 1 of the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002 already places a duty on those with responsibility for the administration of justice to uphold the continued independence of the judiciary, while the pledge of office contains a commitment to uphold the rule of law, based as it is on the fundamental principles of fairness, impartiality and democratic accountability. The Government do not believe that it would be appropriate to replicate guarantees that are already provided elsewhere in legislation. Similarly, we believe that the Justice Minister should be subject to the same pledge as the Executive Ministers. Amendments 2 and 4, tabled by the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael), pose a number of interesting questions. It is therefore appropriate to say a word or two about his remarks about the Justice Minister. He put forward the name of an MLA, but it is not for me, as the Secretary of State, to decide who the First and Deputy First Ministers, the Executive and the Assembly choose to be Justice Minister. What we are debating this afternoon is a model that can be used. I advocate that he shows a little caution, rather than perhaps being too predisposed at this stage to assume who may or may not be chosen. Yes, candidates are talked about, but what matters now is creating the model. It is not for this House to decide who should make that decision.