Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede on 1 August (HL330), on what basis the Ministry of Justice made a payment to the Press Recognition Panel of £430,000 in April; and whether they intend to place in the House of Lords Library a copy of all correspondence between the Ministry of Justice and Press Regulation Panel relating to the payment.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Royal Charter on Self-Regulation of the press sets out that The Exchequer (acting through the Lord Chancellor) will fund the Press Recognition Panel (PRP) until it becomes effective. It also sets out that in the event that the PRP considers its income is likely to be insufficient it will have a right to request further reasonable sums so it is not frustrated by a lack of funding. Whilst the Lord Chancellor is the conduit for the PRP with HM Treasury, they have no policy responsibility under the Royal Charter that created the PRP. The PRP publish their accounts on an annual basis, confirming their annual income of £430,000.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to assist with the extension of the Defamation Act 2013 to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
The civil law of defamation is a devolved issue in Northern Ireland. As such, the development of, or any reform to, the law in this area is a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive and Northern Ireland Assembly to consider.
I note that the Northern Ireland Minister for Finance, Conor Murphy MLA, updated the Assembly late last year and that work is underway in his department to review defamation law. An MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) has also been granted consent by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to introduce a Bill into the Northern Ireland Assembly on this issue. I understand that the proposed Bill is currently being considered by the NI Assembly Speaker as per usual processes.
Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to relax the requirement that couples wishing to have a civil marriage in England and Wales must be resident in the registration district for at least seven days before giving notice of marriage, to enable couples from Northern Ireland, including same-sex couples, to give notice by post or other means.
Answered by Lord Keen of Elie - Shadow Minister (Justice)
The Law Commission undertook a scoping study to identify options for reform to marriage law and the Government gave this careful consideration. We have concluded that now is not the right time to develop options for such reform. The priority is to identify options for alleviating pressures on the family justice system from a sustained increase in demand. The Government will, however, keep marriage law under review for possible inclusion in future reform work.