§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will amend the guidance given to government departments by the Cabinet Office on the Human Rights Act 1998 in February 2000 to include and be consistent with the guidance subsequently given by the Lord Chancellor to departments about Explanatory Notes on Bills, indicating that they should identify the main ways in which convention rights are thought to be engaged and explaining why the department considers measures in a Bill to be compatible with convention rights. [HL1045]
§ The Lord Chancellor (Lord Irvine of Lairg)Yes, my department is presently undertaking a comprehensive revision ofHuman Rights Act 1998: Guidance for Departments which was issued by the Cabinet Office in February 2000. The new edition will take account of all significant developments. It will include the amended guidance relating to explanatory notes on Bills.
This amended guidance states that explanatory notes on Bills should describe the most significant convention issues thought to arise on a Bill, together with the Minister's conclusions on compatibility; amended guidance draws attention to the fact that the explanatory notes are published by Parliament and should thus be neutral in tone.
In the meantime, the amended guidance about explanatory notes on Bills has been made available by my department through LION (Legal Information Online Network), the website for Government lawyers, and is also available on the Human Rights Unit's website. In addition, we have reminded officials about the amended guidance, using the network of nominated departmental human rights contacts.