HC Deb 31 March 1969 vol 781 cc29-30
35. Mr. Lipton

asked the Attorney-General whether, in view of the conviction in the Minehead Magistrates' Court of Mr. Robert H. Nancekivell, he will take steps to remove him from the list of magistrates.

Mr. Paget

On a point of order. I am extremely sorry not to have been able to give you notice of this point of order earlier Mr. Speaker, but I arrived only just before Questions started.

In my submission this Question involves not only the administration of justice but a question which itself is a judicial issue, at present sub judice before the Lord Chancellor. We all know that magistrates, every day, are being convicted of non-indictable offences such as speeding. This is not, in any ordinary case, a cause for removing them. If a matter is sufficiently important to involve this sort of very grave sentence it is a matter for judicial consideration by the Lord Chancellor, and it seems to me utterly wrong—

Mr. Shinwell

It has been accepted by the Table.

Mr. Paget

That is the point that I am making. It seems to me utterly wrong that Question Time should be used for the purposes of trying to exert undue pressure on a judicial officer performing a judicial function. I submit that this Question ought not to have been allowed.

Mr. Speaker

If the Question had been out of order it would not have been on the Order Paper. The Lord Chancellor has power to remove a justice of the peace from the list of magistrates, and conviction for an offence would seem to be a ground on which an hon. Member might put a Question on the Order Paper.

The Attorney-General (Sir Elwyn Jones)

My noble Friend, the Lord Chancellor, has considered this case. He has decided not to remove Mr. Nancekivell's name from the Commission of Peace but has asked him not to act as a justice of the peace for a term of 12 months from the date of his conviction.

Mr. Lipton

Is not this a very unusual procedure? If a man is not fit to serve as a justice of the peace for 12 months, what is to happen in the intervening 12 months which will make him fit in 12 months time? The whole situation is quite ridiculous and will not be accepted by all those who consider that the highest possible standard of conduct should be insisted upon for magistrates.

The Attorney-General

My noble Friend no doubt took the view that, after the dust had settled for a year, it was appropriate that this magistrate, who has served well for 20 years, should continue to be a justice of the peace.