§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 18 February,Official Report, column 1055, if he will provide whatever information is available of those occasions on which he, or other Ministers in his Department, have signed public interest immunity certificates, and for what reasons.
§ Mr. HanleySince my right hon. and learned Friend became Secretary of State for Defence, he or other Ministers in his Department have signed public interest immunity certificates on seven occasions.
400WIn June 1992, my right hon. and learned Friend signed a certificate which set out the national security and personal safety grounds for screening certain members of the armed forces from the public, and for the protection of certain information from disclosure. This certificate was prepared for the hearing of a civil claim. In the event, the hearing was delayed, and he signed a fresh certificate in similar terms in March 1993. He signed certificates for the same purpose in January 1993 in relation to another civil claim, and in April 1993 in relation to the proceedings of an inquest.
My right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Sir A. Hamilton) signed PII certificates in relation to two cases. In January 1993 he signed a certificate for the same purposes as those in the first instance above in relation to the proceedings of an inquest. In February 1993, in relation to criminal proceedings, he signed a certificate setting out the grounds for protecting information, the disclosure of which would be harmful to national security.
In October 1992 my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State signed a certificate relating to a case heard in camera by agreement of the court and the parties. In addition, my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State and my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Defence Procurement signed in September 1992 certifica-tes in the same terms in connection with the Matrix Churchill case. The certificate signed by the Minister of State was not used.