HL Deb 18 February 1987 vol 484 cc1090-1

2.39 p.m.

Baroness Burton of Coventry

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, arising from their written answer to the Baroness Burton of Coventry on 3rd February (H.L. Deb., col. 183), judgment has now been given in "the Irish court case" which was causing delay in the ratification of the Single European Act by member States of the European Community.

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Young)

My Lords, the High Court in Dublin ruled on 12th February against the challenge to ratification of the Single European Act. However, the plaintiff is today appearing before the Supreme Court in a further effort to block ratification.

Baroness Burton of Coventry

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that reply. I am rather stuck because I wanted to ask, if the judgment was as she has given, whether the Irish Government are now free to deposit their instrument of ratification of the Single European Act if they so wish. Does the Minister's Answer mean that the ratification may now be indefinitely delayed, and can she give any indication of how long that delay might be?

Baroness Young

My Lords, I am unable to give the noble Baroness the information that she requires because I cannot predict the timetable before the outcome of the court hearing and any appeal are known.

Baroness Burton of Coventry

My Lords, I thank the Minister for what she has been able to say.

Lord Moyne

My Lords, it has been stated in the press that there was an injunction which would delay the matter for a further week pending an appeal. According to the newspapers, that week ended yesterday. Can the Minister comment upon that matter?

Baroness Young

My Lords, the position is exactly as I stated it in my original Answer. We all hope that the Irish Government will ratify the Single European Act as soon as it is legally possible for them to do so.

Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos

My Lords, does this case have something to do with the political and economic aspects of security? Is that the objection which has been pursued in Dublin? To what extent do Her Majesty's Government think that that is significant?

Baroness Young

My Lords, the answer to the noble Lord is that an individual Irish citizen, Mr. Crotty, has challenged the Single European Act on the grounds that it substantially extends the scope of the Community treaties without it being possible for the courts to review the constitutionality of Council acts taken under the Single Act once it enters into force.

The position is as I have described it. As I have indicated, we hope that the Irish Government will ratify the Single European Act as soon as the legal case is completed.

Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos

My Lords, I am obliged to the noble Baroness for that explanation.