Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Bill

I am speaking to Amendment No. 30, which stands in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Smith of Clifton, and which is consequential to Amendment No. 24. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission said that Clause 15 would, by new Section 69C of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, allow the commission to enter a place of detention only during and for the purposes of a formal, time-bound investigation established under Section 69(8). For any other purpose, however serious or urgent, the commission would need to secure the permission of the relevant authorities. The commission needs to have the option of visiting places of detention as a means of fulfilling its statutory functions under Section 69(5), (6) and (8) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 in relation to legal proceedings, research, investigations or educational activities. It would need to have a right of access to places of detention for the exercise of any of its statutory functions; and protection against any inappropriate use of this power is available through judicial review. Subsection (3) offers an extensive list of ““places of detention””, but reliance on the ordinary English meaning of the phrase would provide a more efficient and, we believe, inclusive approach, as was done in, for example, the Armed Forces Act 2006 and the Criminal Justice Act 2003. The opportunity could also be taken to address any possible consequences of delay in amending the list.