Coroners and Justice Bill

I hasten to say in reply that I regarded it totally as a compliment. My proposed new clause after Clause 21 deals with two of the issues covered by the government new clauses after Clause 24, to which the Minister so admirably spoke. I should record that similarities in drafting between my amendment and his are purely incidental, and, in an important respect, different. My proposed new clause deals specifically with the City of London, rather than as a general provision. The Minister has given an account of the new provisions, so I shall be brief outlining the City of London context. The City of London has a treasure franchise as the result of a number of royal charters granted between 1444 and 1663. The franchise entitles the City to claim treasure which does not, therefore, pass to the Crown. The Museum of London, which the City Corporation jointly funds with the Greater London Authority, is given the first opportunity to acquire treasure subject to the City's franchise for public display. Of course, not all finds of treasure are wanted by the Museum of London. Where a find is not wanted, the general rule is that the objects are returned to the finder. In other words, the City disclaims its entitlement to the treasure. The problem in the present law is that the Treasure Act 1996 allows the Crown to disclaim its entitlement to treasure, but does not make similar provision for the City of London as a franchise holder or for other franchise holders, for that matter. The first purpose of my new clause is to deal with this ambiguity. Subsections (2) and (4) of the government new clause to which the Minister referred, taken with subsections (1) and (2) of the second government new clause, provide a system enabling a treasure franchisee, and therefore the City of London, to disclaim finds of treasure. They therefore deal with the issue which my new clause addresses. The Minister’s optimism about my reaction to his new clauses was correct. The second purpose of my new clause is to make clear that there is no need for a treasure inquest where the City as franchise holder has renounced its right to claim the find. This has been a matter of concern to the City Corporation and to the City Coroner, and clarification of the law to make clear that no inquest is needed is highly desirable. That clarification is provided by subsections (4)(b) and (c) of government Amendment 84 in the form of a general provision which includes the City. There are, however, two other points I should like to mention arising from the government new clauses. First, there is no requirement on the new treasure coroner to notify a franchise holder that a find which might be treasure has been made. Clearly a franchise holder will be an interested party as, unless disclaimed, the treasure will belong to that franchise holder. In the City’s case, it provides the City with the opportunity to exercise its entitlement on behalf of the Museum of London to secure public display of important finds. The notice procedure for Treasure which belongs to the Crown—which is the general position—is already catered for by Section 9 of the Treasure Act 1996. That requires coroners to notify the British Museum, which decides whether finds should be claimed by the Crown or returned to finders. There is no equivalent provision for treasure franchisees under the 1996 Act. Although finds of what amount to treasure usually come to the notice of the City or are notified by the coroner once known to him, it would seem appropriate to have an equivalent provision to the existing requirements in relation to finds which became property of the Crown as those that are subject to a treasure franchise, as in the City of London. Secondly, the new clauses set out the general scheme for the new treasure coroner and assistant treasure coroners. The City of London is, of course, the oldest part of the capital and finds of treasure are fairly frequent. It has been said that the City has been for the past 25 years the largest archaeological site in the world—certainly in Europe—because of what has been discovered below it. The Museum of London looks after one of the world’s leading archaeological research facilities, the London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre. I hope that the review of the work of coroners in relation to treasure inquests, which the Government’s new clauses will prompt, will take full account of the important part played by the City Coroner in the treasure jurisdiction. I shall be wholly reassured if the Minister responds on both these issues in the affirmative. In the mean time, I acknowledge that the Government’s new clauses cover the substance of my new clause. Although I am speaking to Amendment 73 after the noble Lord, Lord Redesdale, spoke to Amendment 74, I take this opportunity to support that amendment too. I was once the Secretary of State who encouraged the late Earl of Perth to pursue what became the Treasure Act 1996. His spirit would be happy to see the furrow continuing to be ploughed so sensitively by his successors. I thank the Minister and the Government for all their work in this area.