§ MR. H. D. GREENE (Shrewsbury)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether he can state what will be the earliest period after receiving the Royal Assent at which official printed copies of the Criminal Evidence Act can be obtained by magistrates; and whether Her Majesty's Government will arrange that, so far as possible, all Acts which come earliest into operation shall be printed and published or circulated in priority to those which are to begin to operate subsequently?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF the TREASURYThe existing arrangements are intended to secure the publication of each Act as soon as possible alter it receives the Royal Assent. The Criminal Evidence Act will not become law until two months after it receives the Royal Assent, and it should be obtainable very soon after that. Should there be any reason to apprehend that the official or gratuitous distribution of the Act in ordinary course would not be early enough, instructions will be given for a special issue. I do not, however, think that the present arrangements with regard to the publication of Acts are thoroughly satisfactory, and I am going to have the subject investigated.