| Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill [Lords]
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Lady Hermon (North Down) (UUP): I apologise for coming to the Committee late. I was dealing with Northern Ireland business in Room 14. I ask the Minister to focus his attention on Northern Ireland, as we are heading into the parading or marching season. Perhaps the Minister would like to come over and witness it first hand. He would see that tempers get frayed in those circumstances. The potential application of clause 8 is very wide and it might aggravate the situation considerably. Has the Minister consulted the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission about the implications of the Bill for enhancing community relations? What impact does the Human Rights Commission think that the measure might have on Northern Ireland at a sensitive time? Mr. Leslie: I do not know about the specific organisation that the hon. Lady mentioned, but in a wider human rights context, we considered the clause and signed it as compliant with the Human Rights Act 1998. The Joint Committee on Human Rights has also considered it. I will inquire whether we liaised with the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and write to her to let her know. In any event, it would not necessarily change our view that it is right to clarify and make sure that there is simplicity in police rules. The police will, of course, be able to use their discretion. The clause simply makes it clear that where an allegation of common assault is made, there is no longer a need for a proven threat of further assault occurring before an arrest can be made. The police have the discretion to make the arrest for an allegation of common assault. That will be widely welcomed, Column Number: 148 particularly by those who are alleging such assault and who have maybe been quite confused in the past when the police have expressed doubt about whether they could intervene at the time.Lady Hermon: To assist the Minister, let me point out that the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission was set up under the Belfast agreement, which was introduced by his Government and was approved in referendums in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland. The commission is a statutory body that has a high status in Northern Ireland. It is charged with examining the adequacy of the law and ensuring that it is compatible with our human rights obligations, particularly given the sensitive circumstances in Northern Ireland. I urge the Minister to act post-haste after this Committee or at least when he next has the opportunity. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is a substantive body and it should have been consulted on this legislation. Mr. Leslie: It may well have been consulted but I do not have the full list of consultees to hand. Although I am sure that we do not consult every human rights body on every potential change of legislation, if it has been deemed relevant by Northern Ireland Office colleagues or relevant, I am sure that the commission would have the opportunity to consult or to speak to colleagues in such organisations. I will write to the hon. Lady and I think that that is the best suggestion that I can make. That aside, there seems to be consensus about the value of the clause and I hope that it can stand part of the Bill. Mr. Grieve: I am grateful to the Minister for his comments. As I said at the outset, I understood the purpose behind the measure. I hope that the Minister will think about the law of unintended consequences, because we live in a rights-based society and we know that the police are deluged with allegations of a trivial nature. That is one of the reasons why they have great difficulty performing some of their central law enforcement functions. I cannot help thinking that this measure may contribute towards that. Leaving aside the fantasy world that we may move into—for example, cases of pupils arresting their teachers who have grabbed them by the arm when they have been misbehaving—the mind starts to boggle when one considers the number of occasions in the course of day when someone might make an allegation that they have been assaulted by another person. The reason why the offence that we are discussing was never an arrestable one was precisely because of that. The Government, by making it an arrestable offence, may well open the floodgates, but then again it may well be that 99 per cent. of the population will never discover what Parliament has done in this clause and the Government will be able to breathe a sigh of relief. Question put and agreed to. Clause 8 ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 9 ordered to stand part of the Bill. Column Number: 149 Further consideration adjourned.—[Mr. Heppell] Column Number: 150 Adjourned accordingly at thirteen minutes past Four o'clock till Tuesday 29 June at ten minutes past Nine o'clock.
The following Members attended the Committee:
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| Prepared 24 June 2004 | |
