COMMONS AMENDMENT (Hansard, 14 November 1988)

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 1.

§ Lord Underhill
My Lords, we have before us the Commons amendments to three Bills and I should like to refer to them all in my few remarks. They appear to be corrections and minor modifications, but I do not understand this particular amendment. It is an amendment to Clause 108 and leaves out the definition of the offence involving disqualification. I do not understand why the definition is omitted. I am certain that with a simple explanation from the Minister we can deal with the business without difficulty.
On Third Reading we on these Benches failed to express our grateful thanks to the two Law Commissions and to the Joint Committee on Consolidation Bills for their work. I am certain that the three Bills will be helpful, although I believe that when we deal with the North Committee Report there will no doubt be a necessity for another consolidated Bill.
Can the Minister explain why the definition is being omitted?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I should like to thank the noble Lord for his remarks. We all appreciate the work carried out by those involved in consolidation Bills. The amendments which we are considering this evening were shown in draft to the chairman of the Joint Committee on Consolidation Bills. He stated that, in his opinion, the amendments are proper to be moved as part of the consolidation effected by the Bills.
As regards Amendment No. 1, Part III of the Road Traffic Bill derives from Part III of the Road Traffic Act 1972. Part III of the Bill does not deal with disqualification in the endorsement of licences on conviction, unlike Part III of the 1972 Act. Provisions about disqualification and endorsement are now to be found in Part II of the Road Traffic Offenders Bill. Accordingly, Part III of the Road Traffic Bill does not require definitions of offence involving obligatory disqualification and offence involving discretionary disqualification. Therefore the amendment omits those definitions.