§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department further to his answer of 12 February,Official Report, column 788, what changes have taken place since 1 January in the total number of (a) Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, (b) Lords Justices of Appeal, (c) Heads of Division, (d) High Court judges, (e) circuit judges, (1) recorders, (g) assistant recorders, (h) stipendiary magistrates, and (i) full-time chairmen who are (i) men, (ii) women, (iii) barristers, (iv) solicitors, (v) black or Asian, and (vi) ex-Oxford or Cambridge; and if he will give revised figures for the average ages in each category.
Mr. John M. TaylorThe available information, as at 1 July 1993, is set out in the table, with net changes since 1 January 1993 shown in brackets. As before, the figures for black or Asian office-holders are believed to be correct, but since the formal recording of the ethnic background of applicants for judicial office began only on I October 1991, such information may be incomplete. Aggregated information is not generally kept on the university background of judges or their average ages and no new information is available in relation to these matters.
§ The Attorney-GeneralI have no plans to do so.
§ Mr. WinnickTo ask the Attorney-General how many(a) witten and (h) oral representations he received from honourable Members regarding the case of Mr. Nadir before his departure from the United Kingdom.
§ The Attorney-GeneralPursuant to my answer given on 10 June 1993, col.334, to the honourable Member for Walsall, North, I should add to that list letters written by two honourable Members to the then Home Secretary about Mr. Nadir to which my predecessor replied on points relating to the arrest and investigation. Because of the indirect route by which they came to my office they were not recorded on the departmental register of Members' correspondence so as to be included in my original answer. The overall number of Members who have made representations to me or my predecessor is therefore eight rather than six—since the honourable Member for East Hampshire (Mr. Mates) made both oral and written representations, he figured twice in my answer of 10 June. I have not included questions tabled by honourable Members in replies relating to representations.
319WMy reference to correspondence from whichever part of the House, Official Report, 30 June 1993, col. 969, was founded on recollection of a list prepared by officials detailing all occasions when the case was raised through parliamentary channels which included reference to a question asked by the right honourable Member for Strangford (Mr. Taylor) on 12 November 1990, col. 34.