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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, for giving me the opportunity to address the point that concerns him. It picks up on the point made previously by the noble Earl, Lord Erroll. We believe that the Secretary of State is bound to act reasonably—not because he is always a reasonable person but because, whenever he makes a decision, his decision will always be subject to judicial review. That is the point I have tried to emphasise. Deciding whether the failure of the domain name registry is serious enough to warrant action is not an exception; neither is it a decision that would be taken lightly. The effect of qualifying "adversely" with the word "seriously" would widen the grounds of legal challenge, with all the delay that would entail at a stage when urgent action against a registry may be necessary to protect businesses and consumers. It continues to be our view that it must remain within the Secretary of State’s reasonable judgment to decide on the facts available whether the adverse effect is sufficiently serious to warrant intervention, and not within the judgment of the court. The hurdle for taking action against a registry is already a high one; the trigger is not light, as I have explained. A set process must be gone through and the registry will have the opportunity to address the Secretary of State’s concerns before he can even consider exercising his other powers in this area. I hope in the light of that explanation the noble Lord will feel able to withdraw his amendment.