HC Deb 05 June 2000 vol 351 cc147-8W
Mr. McNamara

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2000,Official Report, column 639W, on the Northern Ireland Bar, if he will (a) make a statement on dates of correspondence with the Lord Chief Justice and place copies in the Library. [124104]

Mr. Lock

Since January 1997 there have been 16 letters between the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice about appointments to the Northern Ireland Senior Bar.

Two letters between the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice relating to appointments to the Senior Bar have already been disclosed in proceedings before the High Court in Northern Ireland (in the matter of an application by Seamus Treacy and Barry Macdonald) and will be placed in the Library. All of the remaining correspondence was conducted on a confidential basis and much of it relates to individuals' suitability for appointment to the Senior Bar or ministerial responsibility for such appointments. It will not, therefore, be placed in the Library.

Mr. McNamara

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2000,Official Report, column 640W, on the Northern Ireland Bar, if he will make a statement on (a) consultation procedures, (b) responses made and (c)conclusions reached. [124103]

Mr. Lock

This related to the Report of the Committee (the Elliott Committee) established by the Bar Council in November 1996 to investigate and report on all aspects of the appointment of Senior Counsel in Northern Ireland. That Committee reported to the Bar Council the following year and a copy of the Report was provided to the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland in May 1997. The Bar Council did not, however, provide a copy of the Report to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (who was responsible for matters relating to Queen's Counsel at that time) nor to the Lord Chancellor who subsequently assumed those responsibilities. Copies of the Report were, however, provided to the Northern Ireland Office and the Lord Chancellor by the Lord Chief Justice.

I am not in a position to know what responses the Bar Council received following publication of the Elliott Report. Although the Secretary of State and the Lord Chancellor had been invited to comment by the Elliott Committee as part of the Committee's original consultations, neither of them were invited to comment on the recommendations of the final report.

The Lord Chancellor is presently considering the effect of the judgment in the case brought by Seamus Treacy and Barry Macdonald. It would be premature to comment on the Declaration to be made by new Queen's Counsel and the Lord Chancellor's conclusions concerning the Elliott Report until final decisions have been reached concerning the issues raised in that case.