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Coroners and Justice Bill

Very well, let us accept what the hon. and learned Gentleman has said, and let us move on to the substance of the current proposal. I do not think that Lords amendment 1B quite counts as Government plan B—it is probably plan C or D at this stage—but it is the alternative formulation that was presented to another place. Notwithstanding my reservations about the whole process, we must consider the proposal's merits. It will introduce a lock of sorts, but it is a very deficient lock, as it will provide only one circumstance in which the Lord Chief Justice can intervene, which is in the choice of the judge who will officiate. That lock seems inadequate, because it does not allow for the circumstances in which the Executive have chosen to put this matter into the hands of a secret inquiry to be considered by the judiciary. If that route were followed, like the hon. and learned Gentleman, I would prefer a proper process of application. That is not what is proposed, but nor is it proposed that the Lord Chief Justice will have at his disposal any of the reasoning behind the transfer in any case. His decision will be based simply on, as was described earlier, an administrative matter of whom the officiating judicial official should be.