Justice Bill - Further Consideration Stage

I am pleased to be able to speak in the debate. I declare an interest as the Chairperson of the Assembly and Executive Review Committee and as a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board. I am not speaking as Chairperson of the Committee today.

In relation to amendment No 1, it has always been, in my view, the intention of the Government to agree protocols and memoranda of understanding in advance of devolution. Those documents refer to judicial independence and the independence of the prosecution service and have been in the public domain for some time; since the report of the Transitional Assembly, in fact. As Members are aware, issues of national security will and should remain with the UK Government and will not be a devolved matter. I am not aware that there is, as yet, a document on SOCA.

Mr Attwood has been talking about boards to look after SOCA, and the other day he was proposing a board similar to the Policing Board to look after the Public Prosecution Service. All of a sudden he is proposing two boards. The Policing Board costs around £8 million a year. I do not know where the money will come from for the boards that Mr Attwood and the SDLP are proposing in relation to justice. It is just not possible; it cannot be possible, and, instead of us calling for unnecessary quangos to be appointed to deal with those issues, that sort of money should, first and foremost, be spent on front line policing.

As the First Minister has said on a number of occasions, it should be the will of all parties in the Assembly that decisions on prosecutions and the role of the judiciary should always remain free from political interference. The Assembly and Executive Review Committee is awaiting draft documents from the Secretary of State on those matters, and it is, ultimately, his decision when to provide the documents. The Secretary of State, during his oral evidence to the Committee, said that he would share the protocols and memoranda with the Committee in due course. That is a matter of public record. Since then, he has said a number of times that he will do that. I am sure that the Committee will have the chance to scrutinise those documents, and it will then send its views to the First Minister and deputy First Minister.

I oppose amendment No 1, because it would, effectively, create a situation where the work of the Assembly and Executive Review Committee and OFMDFM would be duplicated. The First and deputy First Minister have indicated clearly the process, and the Assembly and Executive Review Committee will play its role. As other Members said, there is no need for unnecessary duplication.

With reference to amendment No 2, Members will be aware that co-operation agreements already exist between the gardaí and the PSNI. As someone who served in the Police Service for 30 years, I know that there have always been agreements and co-operation between the gardaí and the RUC and now between the gardaí and the PSNI. Thankfully, co-operation takes place with European police services and with police services worldwide. As the demands of policing change, those protocols change; the process is always evolving. Such co-operation has been demonstrated in many areas in the past, and, thankfully, the devolution of policing and justice to Northern Ireland, when it eventually happens, will not change that.

There are also agreements between the gardaí and the PSNI as a result of the agreements by the devolved Assemblies of the United Kingdom on issues to do with sex offenders. I have no doubt that those agreements will continue. I understand that any such agreements would not be affected by devolution or by the amendments. Formal agreement between the Secretary of State and the Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform already takes place on criminal justice co-operation matters, and that arrangement has existed for years.

Much debate has taken place in the House and other places about the amendments. Unlike other Members, I do not intend to dwell on the amendments for too long, because they are totally unnecessary. Let us get on with enacting the Bill. The DUP opposes amendment Nos 1 and 2.