UK Parliament / Open data

Investigatory Powers Bill

Proceeding contribution from Lord Garnier (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 15 November 2016. It occurred during Debate on bills on Investigatory Powers Bill.

Of course I understand what my right hon. Friend has said. He is one of the most sophisticated proponents of the “nudge” or incentive system of lawmaking, and I salute him for that. I sometimes wonder, however, whether it is a good idea to use the force of what are essentially the punitive elements of the legal system to encourage innocent defendants to pay the costs of unmeritorious claims. Yes, in a perfect world we would all settle our disputes, and people would not even provoke disputes in the first place; but to be compelled, on penalty of having to pay out large sums in legal costs, to join an organisation of which one either does not approve for one reason or another, or does not wish to join for one reason or another, strikes me as unjust.

I have been a victim of, shall we say, stupid conduct by the press. It is very annoying. I have seen others, not only my friends and colleagues but people for whom I have acted, having to deal with the misconduct of the media. But I would rather have a system which recognised justice—

About this proceeding contribution

Reference

617 c162 

Session

2016-17

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber
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