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Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill

Of the various choices helpfully put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, I favour Amendment No. 62, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Norton of Louth. I do not suppose he would say that it is perfect or comprehensive, and if there were any doubt it would depend on judicial interpretation. However, the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, has made a powerful point in referring to Clause 9. If the Bill mentions the Human Rights Act 1998, why can it not mention other constitutional legislation which, it could be argued, is equally important? An attempt has been made to list types of constitutional laws, in Amendment No. 63 in particular. I do not like that because I expect that any of us, when looking at each item carefully, could be critical. I would be particularly critical of proposed subsection (2)(h) in Amendment No. 63, which refers to, "““the statutory powers of local authorities””." Local authorities deal with a huge body of legislation which covers everything from sewage to highways to transport to goodness knows what. Such legislation could hardly be regarded as of constitutional importance or be anywhere near as important as the other matters listed in the amendment such as the powers of the Houses of Parliament, the duration of Parliament and so on. The trouble with a list is that if it is not comprehensive you will miss something out; and if, as I suggest, the list includes inappropriate matters such as the statutory powers of local authorities, one has objections. I think the approach of the noble Lord, Lord Norton, is much better. I fear that the Government may take help from Clause 4, which relates to preconditions. The clause contains various phrases which are no doubt important, but it is terribly vague on their meaning. It may be said that orders cannot be made under this Bill which would prevent someone continuing to exercise any right or freedom which that person might reasonably expect to continue to exercise—such as, I suppose, the right to jury trial in many instances—and Clause 4(2)(d) provides that orders cannot be made which would remove any necessary protection. That is incredibly vague. I hope the Minister will have something more positive to say about the amendments’ legitimate objective of ring-fencing matters relating to the constitution. This has been done in Clause 9 for the Human Rights Act; it can surely be done for other matters. Rather than a list, I would prefer the broad phrases suggested by the noble Lord, Lord Norton of Louth.