Part of Criminal Justice Bill – in a Public Bill Committee am 2:45 pm ar 21 Ionawr 2003.
Dominic Grieve
Shadow Minister (Home Affairs)
2:45,
21 Ionawr 2003
If I have achieved nothing else, at least I have ensured an entry in Hansard that can be waved around by defence counsel at future retrials to persuade the Crown court judge that the case should not proceed or that he should intervene. I am grateful to the Minister for that and for having it on the record.
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.
