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Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

My Lords, I support the noble Earl. I draw your Lordships’ attention to the well argued view in the report of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, to which he referred. Unlike the Government’s position, which is simply to codify the existing law, this amendment, put forward with the support of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, is an attempt to advance the law significantly. As the noble Earl pointed out, the law as it exists and as the Government propose to codify it makes it irrelevant whether the belief held by the perpetrator of violence—the defendant in the case—is reasonable; it can be completely unreasonable. However, provided that he holds that unreasonable belief, he is to be treated as if that belief was correct. The purpose of the amendments tabled by the noble Earl, including Amendments Nos. 89 and 90, and in particular Amendment No. 91, is to bring the position established in case law much closer to the standards of the European convention. Although the amendments were not brought forward at an earlier stage, they are to be treated extremely seriously. Should the noble Earl put the amendment to a vote, we on these Benches will support him.