I appreciate what you said, Mr. McWilliam, about sticking to the order, but it is appropriate for me to draw the Committee's attention to the draft statutory rules, which are the Life Sentence Commissioners' Rules 2001. They will underpin the operation of the legislation. Although the Committee has no locus on such instruments, I have made them available, as I did during the wider consultation process, to ensure as much understanding as possible of the draft proposed order. I do not intend to deal in any detail with the proposed rules, which are comprehensive. It may be inappropriate for me to do so given your earlier ruling, Mr. McWilliam.
Separate procedures cover the processing of such instruments.
However, I need to deal with some of the main features of the schedules of the draft order and, depending on what issues are raised, I may have to draw on the rules in response as they relate to the schedules. I hope that the Committee and you, Mr. McWilliam, agree with that approach. Let me deal with the order and the background to it. Order were published on 15 January, and, as I mentioned, they were referred to the Northern Ireland Assembly for consideration. The Minister has already explained that the Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs has deferred consideration of the order to our Committee.