Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Bill

I rise to speak to the Amendments Nos. 27 and 29 in my name and that of my noble friend. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has done extensive research in prisons and juvenile justice establishments for many years, as we have already heard. It has dealt with complaints and inquiries from prisoners and prison staff and it has advised the Government and the Prison Service on numerous matters connected with prison conditions and policies. The commission needs to be able to enter places of detention for a variety of reasons, not only for formal investigations. There have been times when its access has been obstructed and delayed to such an extent that judicial review proceedings have had to be instigated. Indeed, the UN Committee Against Torture has indicated that it wants the NIHRC to participate in the UK's national preventive mechanism under the optional protocol to the convention against torture—OPCAT. The power of access to places of detention must allow for unannounced visits. As drafted, new Section 69C imposes a minimum delay of 15 days’ notice between the commission deciding to investigate and gaining the right of entry. Subsection (5) does not make any provision for emergencies and subsection (6) further delays access by allowing for application to the county court where access can not only be prevented or restricted but alterations can be made to the terms of reference decided by the commission and communicated by it to all the interested parties, as my noble friend Lord Lester of Herne Hill reminded us. Even the Department of Finance and Personnel has to give only 24 hours’ notice before entering establishments under Article 26A of the Rates (Northern Ireland) Order 1977. It is therefore entirely wrong to insist on these arbitrarily restrictive issues applying to the NIHRC. I trust that the Minister and the Government will look closely at this matter before Report.