Northern Ireland (Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan) Bill — House of Commons, 2016-03-10
Topic: Mixed Topics
Edward Julian Egerton Leigh (Conservative, Centre-right): With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Amendment 2, in clause 11, page 6, line 25, leave out "section 10" and insert "sections 10, (Victims and survivors), (Election of the First Minister)" This amendment provides for NC1 and NC2 to come into force on the day on which this Bill is passed. Clause 11 stand part New clause 1—Victims and survivors— In Article 3 of the Victims and Survivors (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, at the end insert— "(3) In this Order references to victim and survivor shall not include an individual appearing to the Commission to be any of the following— (a) someone who is or has been physically or psychologically injured as a result of or in consequence of their undertaking a criminal act in a conflict related incident; (b) someone who was in whole or in part responsible for an unlawful conflict related incident if that person took part in all or any of the planning or execution of that unlawful act."" This new clause provides that persons injured as a result of criminal acts in conflict related incidents cannot be treated as victims or survivors if they were themselves responsible for those criminal acts. New clause 2—Election of the First Minister— ‘(1) The Northern Ireland Act 1998 is amended as follows (2) Omit sections 16A (appointment of First Minister, deputy First Minister and Northern Ireland Ministers following Assembly election, 16B (vacancies in the office of First Minister or deputy First Minister) and 16C (sections 16A and 16B: supplementary) (3) Before section 17 (Ministerial offices) insert— "A17 First Minister and deputy First Minister (1) Each Assembly shall, within a period of two weeks beginning with its first meeting, elect from among its members the First Minister and deputy First Minister (2) Each candidate for either office must stand for election jointly with a candidate for the other office (3) Two candidates standing jointly shall not be elected to the two offices without the support of a majority of the members voting in the election, a majority of the designated Nationalists voting and a majority of the designated Unionists voting (4) The First Minister and deputy First Minister— (a) shall not take up office until each of them has affirmed the terms of the pledge of office; and (b) subject to the provisions of this Part, shall hold office until the conclusion of the next election for First Minister and deputy First Minister (5) The holder of the office of First Minister or deputy First Minister may by notice in writing to the Presiding Officer designate a Northern Ireland Minister to exercise the functions of that office— (a) during any absence or incapacity of the holder; or (b) during any vacancy in that office arising otherwise than under subsection (7)(a); but a person shall not have power to act by virtue of paragraph (a) for a continuous period exceeding six weeks (6) The First Minister or the deputy First Minister— (a) may at any time resign by notice in writing to the Presiding Officer; and (b) shall cease to hold office if he or she ceases to be a member of the Assembly otherwise than by virtue of a dissolution (7) If either the First Minister or the deputy First Minister ceases to hold office at any time, whether by resignation or otherwise, the other— (a) shall also cease to hold office at that time; but (b) may continue to exercise the functions of his or her office until the election required by subsection (8) (8) Where the offices of the First Minister and the deputy First Minister become vacant at any time an election shall be held under this section to fill the vacancies within a period of six weeks beginning with that time (9) Standing orders may make provision with respect to the holding of elections under this section (10) In this Act "the pledge of office" means the pledge of office which, together with the code of conduct to which it refers, is set out in Annex A to Strand One of the Belfast Agreement (the text of which Annex is reproduced in Schedule 4)."" This new clause provides for the First Minister and deputy First Minister to be elected jointly by the whole Assembly, provided that the joint candidates for those posts also have a majority among both the designated Nationalists and the designated Unionists voting in the election. New clause 3—Appointment of First Ministers— In Section 16A of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Appointment of First Ministers and Northern Ireland Ministers following Assembly election)— (a) subsections (4) to (7) and (9) shall cease to have effect, (b) after subsection (3) there shall be inserted— "(4) Each candidate for the joint office of First Ministers must stand for election jointly with a candidate for the other office (5) Two candidates standing jointly shall not be elected to the two offices without the support of a majority of the members voting in the election, a majority of the designated Nationalists voting and a majority of the designated Unionists voting (6) The First Ministers— (a) shall not take up office until each of them has affirmed the terms of the pledge of office before the Assembly; and (b) subject to the provisions of this Part, shall hold office until the conclusion of the next election for First Ministers (c) in subsection (3)(b) the reference to subsections (4) to (7) shall be replaced by a reference to subsections (4) to (6)."" This new clause provides for the First Ministers to be elected jointly by the whole Assembly, provided that the joint candidates for those posts also have a majority among both the designated Nationalists and the designated Unionists voting in the election, rather than appointed by the nominating officers of the largest political parties of the largest and second largest political designations. This would revert to provisions of the Good Friday Agreement and the Northern Ireland Act 1998. New clause 4—Implementation and Reconciliation Group— ‘(1) An Implementation and Reconciliation Group will be established to oversee progress on, and adherence to, commitments in the Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan and other relevant agreements (2) The Implementation and Reconciliation Group, serving as a forum of joint purpose for reconciliation and normalisation involving Assembly parties and both governments, may receive and make reports and offer advice and recommendations (3) The Implementation and Reconciliation Group will have eleven members, including a chair (4) Publicly elected representatives will not be eligible for appointment as members of the Implementation and Reconciliation Group (5) The chair of the Implementation and Reconciliation Group must be a person of independent and international standing, nominated jointly by the First Ministers (6) The other appointments to the Implementation and Reconciliation Group will comprise eight members nominated to reflect the party proportions among the elected members of the Northern Ireland Assembly, one member nominated by the Secretary of State and one nominated by the Government of Ireland." This new clause would establish a group comprising of nominees of Assembly parties, whether represented in the Executive or not, and nominees of both governments to appraise progress on agreed objectives and plans in pursuit of reconciliation and normalisation. New clause 5—Equality duty— ‘(1) Section 75 (statutory duty on public authorities) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 is amended as follows (2) In subsection (1), after paragraph (d) insert— "(e) between those who are victims and survivors of the conflict and those who are not; and (f) between those who have been members of Her Majesty’s armed forces and those who are not." (3) After subsection (1), insert— "(1A) A person is excluded from any benefit arising from this Act by virtue of (1)(e) if that person has been convicted of a serious criminal conviction." (4) In subsection (5), insert at the appropriate places— "serious criminal conviction" means a conviction, whether the person was convicted in Northern Ireland or elsewhere, for an offence for which— (a) a sentence of imprisonment of five years or more was imposed, (b) a sentence of imprisonment for life was imposed; "victim and survivor of the conflict" is defined as— (a) any person who has suffered harm caused by an act related to the conflict in Northern Ireland, for which they are not wholly or partly responsible, that is in violation of the criminal law, (b) any person who provides a substantial amount of care on a regular basis for a person as outlined in paragraph (a), where the harm suffered is a physical or psychological injury." This new clause provides for a change to section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 to add to the list of exemptions victims and survivors of the conflict and members of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces. It also provides a definition of victims and survivors of the conflict.