Asked by: Lord Lester of Herne Hill (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 9 November (HL2598), what steps they are taking, if any, to improve the protection of British Muslim women in family law.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The Government continues to study the evidence, to assess options for improving protections for Muslim women on the breakdown of a marriage that is not legally recognised.
Asked by: Lord Lester of Herne Hill (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to ask the Law Commission to examine how to improve the protection of British Muslim women in marriage law.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
Muslims are free to enter into a legally valid marriage in their place of worship under the same provisions that apply to most other religious groups. The Government recognises that there are complex reasons that some do not, including conscious choice. We are considering the issues, but we have not seen evidence that changing the law would necessarily address the concern.
Asked by: Lord Lester of Herne Hill (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the benefits and costs to the UK of membership of the Fundamental Rights Agency.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) provides assistance and advice on fundamental rights issues to the EU institutions and to Member States when implementing Union law. The FRA is also tasked with promoting fundamental rights within the EU, which it does through the collation, analysis and dissemination of data on fundamental rights across the Member States. As the Balance of Competencies Review in 2014 showed, a small number of UK NGOs have used FRA data to support their work.
The UK contributes to the FRA budget through its contribution to the overall EU budget. The FRA’s budget for 2017 is 22.7 million euro. While civil service time is spent dealing with FRA reports and activities, time costs are not logged on this basis. A UK official attends National Liaison Officer network meetings at the FRA; travel and accommodation expenses for these meetings are covered by the FRA.
Asked by: Lord Lester of Herne Hill (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish a plan for how the Brussels regime on EU civil justice co-operation will apply post-Brexit.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
As made clear in the Government’s White Paper, The United Kingdom’s exit from and new partnership with the European Union, civil judicial cooperation is an important issue, which is being considered as part of the UK's preparations for EU exit negotiations.
We recognise that an effective system of civil judicial cooperation will provide certainty and protection for citizens and businesses, families and consumers. The UK intends to keep working with others, including stakeholders, in order to ensure a smooth transition to future arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Lester of Herne Hill (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to continue to honour the UK's commitments under the European Convention on Human Rights and to give effect to internationally binding judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in UK cases.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The Government has no plans to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights. As a nation we continue to comply with our international human rights obligations.
Asked by: Lord Lester of Herne Hill (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to ratify the 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements on behalf of the UK in its own right.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The Government recognises the importance of the mutual recognition of choices of law and courts, and the enforcement of judgments across borders, for maintaining confidence in international trade and business. We will work to ensure the best outcome for the UK, including its consumers and businesses.
It is in the interests of all countries who want to do business here that we maintain a system of civil judicial cooperation when we leave the EU.
Asked by: Lord Lester of Herne Hill (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Keen of Elie on 14 December 2016 (HL3710) on the duty of the Lord Chancellor and other Ministers to uphold the independence of the judiciary, whether they will now answer the question asked about how that duty should be performed.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The Cabinet Manual is clear that this is a wide reaching duty, and affords necessary discretion on how it is fulfilled.
Asked by: Lord Lester of Herne Hill (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to arrange for the publication, under the 20-year rule, of official records relating to the preparation and passage of the Human Rights Act 1998.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Ministry of Justice’s intention is for policy records created in 1997 and 1998 to be reviewed in 2019 for transfer to The National Archives in 2020. This is in accordance with the deadline specified by the Public Records (Transfer to the Public Record Office) (Transitional and Saving Provisions) Order 2012.
Asked by: Lord Lester of Herne Hill (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to authorise public access in 2017 to official records relating to the preparation of the Human Rights Bill in 1997.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Ministry of Justice’s intention is for policy records created in 1997 and 1998 to be reviewed in 2019 for transfer to The National Archives in 2020. This is in accordance with the deadline specified by the Public Records (Transfer to the Public Record Office) (Transitional and Saving Provisions) Order 2012.
Asked by: Lord Lester of Herne Hill (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the duty in the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments, what assessment they have made of the benefits to hearing and visually impaired defendants of allowing the use of wi-fi in the criminal courts to enable them to input and receive relevant information.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
We want a justice system that works for everyone. HMCTS takes its public sector duty responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 seriously, and provides guidance to staff about the requirements of the Act and our obligation to consider reasonable adjustments for all court users with disabilities to provide equal access to its service and facilities.
The judiciary are also aware of their responsibilities when interacting and communicating with people with disabilities and have access to the Equal Treatment Bench Book to support them. Requests for reasonable adjustments for court users with disabilities are dealt with on a case by case basis and a range of measures are available.
The Professional Court User Wi-Fi service is not available to the public. It can only be used by Judges, Defence Practitioners (acting on behalf of defendants), Prosecutors, and those who work in a professional capacity to deliver criminal justice in criminal courthouses in England and Wales. However, all courtrooms have access to large screens on which evidence can be shared with the court and there is provision for temporary access to be provided to a defendant if required.