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Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [HL]

My secret plan is to become a judge, as the noble Lord knows. I am very happy to talk further about this. Idraw the Committee’s attention to the fact that sub-paragraph (2)(d) states that it, "““makes the person as suitable for appointment as if the person satisfied any of paragraphs (a) to (c)””." The Committee will know that sub-paragraphs (2)(a) to (c) provide that the person, "““satisfies the judicial-appointment eligibility conditions on a 5-year basis ... is an advocate or solicitor in Scotland of at least five years’ standing ... or is a barrister or solicitor in Northern Ireland of at least five years' standing””." That is a benchmark of the kind of things that we are looking for. Although I am very happy to try to set that out, my note of caution is that if we knew all the possibilities for tribunals in future and the kind of expertise that we may seek, we would put it in the Bill or regulation. I am merely trying to keep the door open to accept that, for particular circumstances, we might want someone from another jurisdiction or with a particular form of expertise. The noble Lord, Lord Kingsland, rightly referred back to the previous amendment about calling people judges, which is hugely important, I believe, for an understanding that there is independence from government and that an independent and proper decision will be made. That is the case that I made for why we went in that direction. It is not about trying to extend so far that noble Lords feel that we have lost something fundamental in the system. I could not agree more with the sentiment behind the amendment to try to ensure that we do not do that, but that is absolutely not the intention. I hope that Members of the Committee will reflect that sub-paragraph (2)(d) refers to sub-paragraph (2)(a) to (c) and that we have been clear about the criteria there, and do not run the risk of losing what is important, which is retaining that flexibility. I am happy to discuss with the noble Lords, Lord Kingsland and Lord Maclennan, outside the Committee whether there is something I can say or something we can put in the policy statement that would ensure that noble Lords recognised that we did not seek to move so far away from the criteria that they felt it inappropriate.