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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

moved Amendment No. 11: After Clause 17, insert the following new clause- ““EXCLUSION OF MINISTER FROM OFFICE (1) Section 30 of the 1998 Act (exclusion of Ministers from office) is amended as follows. (2) After subsection (1)(b) insert- ““(c) because he is no longer committed to upholding the rule of law in Northern Ireland,””. (3) After subsection (2)(b) insert- ““(c) because it is no longer committed to upholding the rule of law in Northern Ireland,””. (4) After subsection (7)(d) insert- ““(da) whether he or it is committed now and in the future to upholding the rule of law in Northern Ireland””.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, this amendment would ensure that there will be appropriate consequences for a Northern Ireland Minister who publicly refuses to support the role of the police and to accept the legitimacy of the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland. In Committee, I dropped a previous amendment concerning Ministers taking an oath to support the judiciary and the police. I believe that this amendment will serve very well. Those who understand the operation of Northern Ireland governance will know that the measure would have to be enacted in the Assembly by a cross-community vote. The Minister will be pleased to hear that I have carefully considered what he had to say about the difficulty of changing the pledge of office without active agreement from all the parties in Northern Ireland. Although I remain hopeful that the appropriate action will be taken, should it become necessary, I am prepared to leave it to the Northern Ireland Assembly to take those steps. However, the amendment that I have retabled is very necessary and is appropriate to be put intothis legislation. The criteria for exclusion were first established in primary legislation passed through this House in 1998. Now that the political climate has developed enough for police and justice functions to be devolved, it is our responsibility to see that the legislation that will safeguard those functions is updated. The 1998 Act established that a Minister or junior Minister should be excluded on the ground of promoting violence or non-peaceful and non-democratic means, and so on, but there is no reference to a failure on the part of a Minister to uphold the rule of law. I know that the Minister has said many times that someone who does not support the police and uphold the rule of law is the opposite of those things—a robber or a cowboy or whatever. In Committee, the Minister tried to reassure me that there was no chance of a Minister coming to power who did not fully support the police and justice systems. He quoted the leadership of the republican movement as accepting the need to engage in policing and being committed to following a peaceful path. That is quite clearly not enough; the police rely on the active support and help of the community, including the encouragement of Ministers. Imagine a Minister for justice in Northern Ireland who did not support the criminal justice system. Until Sinn Fein and the IRA accept that they must co-operate fully with the police in all matters and encourage their supporters to do the same, they should not be considered ready to take up positions in government. Unfortunately, that is far from the case. As the Minister said in Committee, Sinn Fein is considering the policing issue. A consideration can go two ways, and if Sinn Fein decides that it will not start co-operating with the police, it is not fit to serve in government and should not be allowed to remain in a position of power. This amendment would ensure that it would be removed and the police would not be further undermined. I beg to move.