HC Deb 02 November 1965 vol 718 cc960-1

Lords Amendment No. 2: In page 3, line 34, leave out from "and" to "if" in line 38.

Sir F. Soskice

I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.

It may be for the convenience of the House if, while dealing with this Amendment, I explain the next Amendment which goes with it. At the moment if the Attorney-General proceeds in the courts for an injunction to restrain discrimination, he can decide either to proceed in the High Court or to bring proceedings in the county court. If proceedings are brought in the High Court under the existing law a right of appeal would lie to the Court of Appeal. Under the existing law, however, if the Bill remains unamended, without the Amendments which are being considered, should the Attorney-General proceed in a county court it is at least open to considerable doubt whether a right of appeal would lie to the Court of Appeal on an issue of fact.

Under section 109 of the County Courts Act, 1959, such an appeal would lie if the action brought by the Attorney-General is properly to be regarded as an action either in contract or in tort. Considerable doubt exists as to whether such an action would be either an action in contract or in tort. I should have thought that it probably would not be.

To remove any uncertainty, it was decided—this was again a suggestion made by the right hon. and learned Member for Warwick and Leamington—that appropriate words should be introduced into the text of the Bill to make it absolutely clear that there would be the right of appeal on a question of fact whether the action was brought in the High Court or in a county court. The words in the Amendment in page 4, line 10, have that result.

Sir J. Hobson

May I again express my gratitude to the. Home Secretary and to the Government for adopting this suggestion, while expressing the not very optimistic hope that the duties of the Attorney-General will not be very onerous in promoting actions of this sort and the even less optimistic hope that there will not be many appeals from decisions of county courts. Since both of these events may occur, we perhaps ought to provide for them. I recommend to the House that it is perhaps more sensible that there should be appeals on both fact and law if those two unhappy events should occur.

Question put and agreed to.

Remaining Lords Amendment agreed to.