Part of Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill – in a Public Bill Committee am 4:30 pm ar 29 Ionawr 2002.
Edward Garnier
Ceidwadwyr, Harborough
4:30,
29 Ionawr 2002
I am genuinely trying to be helpful. It may be that because I was not here immediately before the Committee adjourned I missed the answer to the question that I am about to ask the Minister.
Appointments made under schedule 1 are described as devolved and other higher appointments may be described as Whitehall appointments. Has the Minister explained the logic of placing judges of the High Court on the devolved list as opposed the Whitehall list? Is there some magic to that decision? It may well be that the Minister has already explained that and it is my fault for not having heard him.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
Whitehall is a wide road that runs through the heart of Westminster, starting at Trafalgar square and ending at Parliament. It is most often found in Hansard as a way of referring to the combined mass of central government departments, although many of them no longer have buildings on Whitehall itself.
