Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Bill

moved Amendment No. 31: 31: Clause 19 , page 15, line 25, leave out ““and”” and insert ““or”” The noble Lord said: Clause 19 prescribes the period during which the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s powers may operate. As the Bill stands, the commission may only exercise its powers to investigate, call for evidence or visit detention centres in respect of matters arising on or after 1 August 2007. The amendment is essentially a probing one. When we have heard the Minister’s explanation it may be that there is nothing between us. The amendment would ensure that the commission can rake over subjects from the past, which have no life in the present. We agree that that would not be in the public interest at all. We are concerned about a continuing situation. That is to say, when there is a practice, rule, procedure or something of that order on conduct, after 1 August, which can be explained only by looking at what has happened in July 2007 and before and which is part and parcel of a continuing course of conduct, the commission should then be able to exercise the powers conferred by Clauses 14 and 15, which are the powers of investigation as regards evidence and access to prisons, and so on. The way it is worded at the moment is that the commission may exercise the powers conferred only for the purpose of investigating matters arising and situations that exist on or after 1 August 2007. The amendment would broaden that, without broadening it so that the commission could rake up matters in the past that have no continuing relevance, by providing only for the purpose of investigating matters arising on or after 1 August 2007, or situations that come into existence or remain in existence on or after 1 August 2007. It may be that the Minister will explain that that is what is already envisaged in the clause, in which case we will be happy. I beg to move.