§ Mr. Robert McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will ask the Law Commission in future to consult with his Department on every new project with a view to having its research and consultation include Northern Ireland. [17116]
§ Sir John WheelerI regret that I am unable to do so. The Law Commission's remit under the Law Commission Act 1965 specifically excludes any law which the Northern Ireland Assembly could have power to amend.
We are however committed to ensuring that the law of Northern Ireland is kept under review. The independent civil law reform function is carried out by the Law Reform Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland set up by the then Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for City of London and Westminster, South (Mr. Brooke) in 1989 in response to representations from the Law Society of Northern Ireland for an independent element in the law reform process. The committee consists mainly of senior lawyers and senior members of the judiciary and is chaired by a Lord Justice of Appeal. Its remit is to keep the civil law of Northern Ireland under review and make recommendations for its reform to my right hon. and learned Friend. As part of its working methods the committee counts widely with local interested bodies and has regular contact with the Law Commission on matters of mutual interest.
The Northern Ireland Office also maintains regular contact with the Law Commission and initiates parallel consultation in appropriate instances where the law under consideration is similar to that in Northern Ireland. We arranged last year for its consultation paper on hearsay and related matters to be circulated in Northern Ireland.