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Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill

I shall have my chance to reply later, but it is important that we focus on this. My noble and learned friend says that it is a broad interpretation and opens up a wide field, but everything is governed by that word ““exceptional””. We have referred to that word in earlier discussions and debate during the passage of this Bill. ““Exceptional”” takes it out of the ordinary; it is unusual, outside what is normal. That cuts down the broad interpretation. You need a wide field because exceptional cases do not arise simply in relation to what the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, referred to as the ““floor””—the minimum rights guaranteed by the convention; they can come out from left field, as the Americans would say. Something quite unexpected is exceptional, which would not necessarily engage the rights under the European convention or European law. ““Exceptional”” cuts down the broad interpretation for which the noble Lord is arguing.