§ Mr. Sean Hughesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what occasions since June 1979 his Department had to (a) introduce amending legislation to legislation introduced since June 1979 because of doubts about legality or because such legislation had been successfully challenged in the courts and (b) amend or withdraw orders introduced since June 1979, because of doubts about legality or because such orders had been successfully challenged in the courts.
§ Mr. MellorOn the basis of the readily available information, I am not aware of any such primary legislation, but in 1985, following a decision of the European court of Human Rights, my right hon. and learned Friend, the then Home Secretary, introduced amending immigration rules to remove provisions which discriminated on grounds of sex. There have been several occasions in the period where primary or subordinate legislation has been amended because it had been found to contain a mistake or to produce an unitended result, but these were not occasions where there were doubts about legality or there had been a successful challenge in the courts.