Clause 9 (Hansard, 3 April 1973)

§ The Solicitor-General
I beg to move Amendment No. 2, in page 8, line 6, 389 leave out 'appointed time' and insert 'passing of this Act'.
I think, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that with this Amendment it might be convenient to take Government Amendments Nos. 3 to 8 and No. 10.

§ Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Robert Grant-Ferris)
Yes, if the House agrees.

§ The Solicitor-General
These amendments have a dual effect as a result of the amendment that was made in Committee relating to pensions for widows. It became apparent when it was examined that those who died before the appointed time would not be able to make provision for their widows as was proposed in the Bill. The amendments will enable Clause 9 to apply to any person in office after the Bill receives Royal Assent. Secondly, they will make it possible for the regulations to provide for the case where a person dies in office during the period in which he might have exercised one of the options under Clause 9 or, having retired from office, dies during that period without having exercised his option.
As the clause stands, it is incapable of benefiting a person holding judicial office who either dies in office or retires before its commencement. Since the clause cannot be brought into force until the fairly complex regulations under it have been made, it means that nobody who retires for a considerable time ahead, or who dies in office during that time, would be able to provide for his widow and therefore benefit from the provisions.
It is obviously right that the clause should be capable of benefiting such persons and should operate in this way. It is wrong that the amount of pension payable to a judge's widow should depend on how quickly the Department concerned can prepare the regulations. They must not be prepared in a hurry for fear that they might be faulty. Therefore, these amendments are proposed to avoid what would seem to be an extremely unfair hiatus.

§ The Solicitor-General
I beg to move Amendment No. 9, in page 10, line 3, at end insert: ' (8) The foregoing provisions of this section shall have effect in relation to the enactments mentioned in the Schedule (increase of certain widow's and children's pensions in Northern Ireland) to this Act as they have effect in relation to the Act of 1950, but subject to the adaptations provided for by that Schedule; and provision corresponding to that which is made by subsections (1) and (3) above, or which may be made by regulations under this section for purposes of those subsections, may, in relation to the pension benefits of any resident magistrate or county court registrar included in Schedule 5 to the Superannuation (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 (persons remaining subject to the Superannuation Acts (Northern Ireland) 1967 and 1969), be made by order of the Ministry of Finance for Northern Ireland. For the purposes of section 6 of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 this subsection shall be deemed to have been passed before the appointed day within the meaning of that section '. This makes provision first for the increase of widows' and children's pensions in respect of county court judges, clerks of the Crown and peace, certain resident magistrates, the National Insurance Commissioners, the President of the Industrial Court and certain others. Secondly, it deals with the cases of certain judicial officers—two resident magistrates and the one full-time county court registrar—to whom the provisions of the Superannuation Acts (Northern Ireland) 1967 and 1969 continue to apply by virtue of the Superannuation (Northern Ireland) Order 1972. It enables the Ministry of Finance 391 to make an order increasing the pensions of widows and children of those judicial officers.
The curious second paragraph is intended to comply with Section 6 of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 which provides that in terms of amending legislation nothing shall happen after the appointed day. In order to preserve Stor-mont's power, therefore, everything is to be deemed to apply before the appointed day all those years ago.