Oral Answers to Questions

Chris Stephens Excerpts

Tuesday 16th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

4. What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of the Illegal Migration Bill on access to justice.

[Chris Stephens (Glasgow South West) (SNP)]

14. What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of the Illegal Migration Bill on access to justice.

[The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Chalk)]

The Illegal Migration Bill will break the business model of ruthless people-smuggling gangs, deter migrants from making dangerous channel crossings, and restore fairness to our asylum system. The Bill provides a robust but fair legal framework to remove illegal migrants swiftly while ensuring the proper opportunity to appeal remains. I am working closely with colleagues on the implementation of the Bill.

[Alex Chalk]

No, absolutely not. Access to justice is at the heart of the Bill, and indeed we make sure that where it is necessary, people can have the legal advice to make those points. But the hon. Gentleman’s question is a little rich in circumstances where the SNP seems hellbent on getting rid of jury trials in some of the most significant cases. We are absolutely clear that juries are the lamp of our liberty. We will not be getting rid of them—why is the hon. Gentleman so keen to do so?

[Chris Stephens]

In relation to that answer, as Lord Reed set out clearly in the Supreme Court in 2017, the principle of “unimpeded access” to the courts is a right that can be traced all the way back to Magna Carta. How will the courts be able effectively to uphold the rule of law if the UK Government use legislation to shut off legal avenues for judicial review?

[Alex Chalk]

Respectfully, the hon. Gentleman may not have quite read the entirety of the Bill, which makes it clear that in appropriate cases where there is an imminent risk of serious and irreversible harm, there will be the opportunity to make those points. He mentions Magna Carta; Magna Carta also includes the right to be tried by a jury of one’s peers, which he apparently wants to get rid of. I am interested to note that one of the most effective critics of that proposal was none other than the most eminent Scottish jurist Lord Hope of Craighead.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Damian Hinds)]

As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State explained earlier, getting offenders and ex-offenders into work has a material impact on the odds against their returning to a life of crime. There is a fantastic opportunity to maximise that because of the tightness of the labour market. My hon. Friend is right about the need to match local skills needs, and the employment advisory boards are there to ensure that that happens.

[Chris Stephens (Glasgow South West) (SNP)]

T8. Does the Secretary of State agree with the assessment of the House of Lords Constitution Committee, which has warned that it is not appropriate for courts other than the Supreme Court and the Scottish High Court of Justiciary to have power to depart from the interpretations of EU case law, and that allowing lower courts to reinterpret EU case law risks causing significant legal uncertainty?

[Alex Chalk]

These are sensitive constitutional issues. I should be happy to write to the hon. Gentleman.