Part of Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill – in a Public Bill Committee am 4:30 pm ar 31 Ionawr 2002.
Sylvia Hermon
Shadow Spokesperson (Women), Shadow Spokesperson (Trade and Industry), Shadow Spokesperson (Home Affairs)
4:30,
31 Ionawr 2002
I appreciate the Minister's Intervention. I shall read the record of our proceedings very carefully, not because I disagree with what he says, but simply to clarify it in my head.
The listed judicial offices are those set out in schedule 1, and they are the less senior judicial appointments, including, regrettably, those to the High Court. The points that I raised in relation to Clause 4 are even more pertinent to clause 5. The clause provides that the First Minister and Deputy First Minister will have the power, provided that they act jointly, to make appointments to at least 34—I hope I am right—different levels of the judiciary. That is a huge number of appointments. I do not intend to rehearse my concerns again but we must face the reality that the First Minister and Deputy First Minister will not always agree. Will the Minister resolve that issue?
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.
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.
An intervention is when the MP making a speech is interrupted by another MP and asked to 'give way' to allow the other MP to intervene on the speech to ask a question or comment on what has just been said.
