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760 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDNational Security BillI do not have that information with me, but about three-quarters of applications succeed. At the risk of disturbing the atmosphere of good will that has, to an extent, prevailed…07 Mar 2023HANSARDNational Security Bill07 Mar 2023HANSARDNational Security BillIt is not entirely irrelevant that exceptional case funding is always available for access to justice. That fact changes some of the comments that have been made about the…07 Mar 2023HANSARDNational Security BillNo, that is not the Government’s position. There is a mechanism by way of exceptional case funding to ensure access to justice in an appropriate case.07 Mar 2023HANSARDNational Security Bill07 Mar 2023HANSARDNational Security BillI do not have the exact definition in front of me. It is a matter for the director of the Legal Aid Agency to decide. There is guidance on this, which applies in particular to…07 Mar 2023HANSARDNational Security BillMy Lords, there might well be found applications for exceptional case funding; approximately 75% of such applications are successful each year. In any event, exceptional case…07 Mar 2023HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) BillI am sorry. I was saying that this is a structure that gives the UK law officers power in relation to UK competence and the devolved Governments power in relation to their…06 Mar 2023HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) BillMy Lords, fortunately, I think I was asked by the noble Lord, Lord Kerr, for only one example, and so I will just give one because it is getting quite late. The example is changes…06 Mar 2023HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) BillMy Lords, the courts are always astute. They sort of intuitively know where they have to stop and where Parliament has to take over. That is a process that has been honed and…06 Mar 2023HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) BillI thank all noble Lords who have tabled amendments in this group. I will start with some general comments and observations on Clause 7 and thereby deal also with Amendment 99A,…06 Mar 2023HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) BillAs far as I know, this is not intended to be prejudicial, but it presupposes a case where there is a tenable argument and it is put to the court that a retained EU law has that…06 Mar 2023HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) BillThat is quite all right. This is the logic of the approach. It is a cross-UK approach and not a Scotland-specific approach. It does not seem appropriate that the previous…06 Mar 2023HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) BillIf I may say so to the noble Baroness, I think this is just a drafting point. The extent may well be nil. There is no particular reason to suppose that the retained EU case law in…06 Mar 2023HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) BillI think I can take it not much further than the answer that I have just given—that the extent may well turn out to be nil.06 Mar 2023HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) BillThe answer is that the courts will not raise these questions of their own motion. These points will be raised by a party to the proceedings. Then the party to the proceedings will…06 Mar 2023HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) BillRespectfully, as I said a moment ago, I do not accept that this will lead to a great deal of uncertainty. It is binding on the courts of first instance. No one is going to take…06 Mar 2023HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) BillI thank my noble friend Lady McIntosh for that intervention, and I stand corrected. She is completely right that Scotland is a mixed system, although I venture to suggest much…06 Mar 2023HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) BillMy Lords, the Government’s position is that this is not a straitjacket. The courts are required to look at three things: the fact that the retained EU case law is made by a…06 Mar 2023HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) BillThat might raise the question of whether indeed it was relevant. You could say, “That’s not relevant here because it’s not dispositive”, or “It’s only one point among several”.…06 Mar 2023