Independent Review of Administrative Law Update

Debate between Lord Howard of Lympne and Lord Wolfson of Tredegar

Monday 22nd March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Howard of Lympne (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I echo the tributes that have been paid to the noble Lord, Lord Faulks. I congratulate him and the panel on their report and I welcome the Government’s response.

Unlike some noble Lords who have spoken, I particularly welcome the Government’s decision to launch a consultation on proposals to examine the use of ouster clauses. As the Lord Chancellor says, the current position on ouster clauses, which is not to give them effect, goes against the intention of Parliament. In many ways, the mother of all ouster clauses is to be found in Article 9 of the Bill of Rights, which provides that

“proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament”,

a provision to which scant regard was paid by the Supreme Court in the Prorogation case.

Can my noble friend the Minister give us any idea of the timescale of the consultation exercise to which he has referred? When may we expect to see—and, I hope, enjoy—its fruits?

[Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Con)]

My Lords, I am grateful for my noble friend’s comments on the report. I think the consultation period is six weeks. As soon as we have the responses in, we will work at pace to bring back the Government’s response to that consultation.

On ouster clauses and the decision in Miller II, perhaps I should merely stick to what I have said so far. I do not really want to get dragged into an analysis of Miller II this evening.