CLAUSE 17.—(Prerogative of mercy.) (Hansard, 24 July 1930)

§ Mr. KELLY

I want to raise again the point that I raised on the Second Reading. Under this Clause opportunity is given of dealing with cases which have been tried in the courts of Northern Ireland and which there was no leglislation which enabled appeals to be made to the Court of Criminal Appeal. I raise this matter because of one special case. I am not going into the merits of it, in fact, I could not, because I do not know them and I have not tried to get to know them. But I do know that opportunity for appeal was not given to this particular woman, Mrs. Whan and her son. She will have the opportunity under this Bill, if it becomes law, to carry through to appeal any of the convictions which were against her on indictment. I ask the Under-Secretary of State to approach the Government of Northern Ireland in the hope that, despite the efflux of time, he will obtain for her a chance to which the whole of the cases, not only on indictment, but that heard at petty session, to be heard on appeal, so that she may clear herself, if that is possible.

§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. Short)

My hon. Friend is asking me or this House to do something which is not within its province to do. He wants us to change the general law of Ireland in relation to appeals that arise from petty sessions. If I understand it aright, that does not come within the jurisdiction of this House. The only reason why we are introducing this Bill is that this is one of the reserved subjects. I understand the position to be that what my hon. Friend seeks to do does not relate to one of the reserved subjects. Any alteration in the law of Northern Ireland relating to appeals 2559 from petty sessions must be made by the Parliament of Northern Ireland. When the hon. Gentleman asks me in the name of the Home Secretary to approach the Parliament of Northern Ireland, I hope he will not think it disrespectful of me if I say that he is asking something to which I cannot give him an answer. But I will see that, in so far as this reference has been made to the matter, I will call the attention of my right hon. Friend to the report of the proceedings.