Eleventh Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation
Thursday 15 July 1999
[Mr. Nicholas Winterton in the Chair]
Draft Public Processions (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 (Procedural Rules) Order 1999
Draft Public Processions (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 (Code of Conduct) Order 1999
Draft Public Processions (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 (Guidelines) Order 1999
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The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Mr. Adam Ingram): I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Public Processions (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 (Procedural Rules) Order 1999.
The Chairman: With this it will be convenient to consider the draft Public Processions (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 (Code of Conduct) Order 1999 and the draft Public Processions (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 (Guidelines) Order 1999.
I welcome hon. Members to the Committee at this uncivilised hour.
Hon. Members: Hear, hear.
Mr. Ingram: This may be an uncivilised hour for some, but as you know, Mr. Winterton, it is not so for Ministers and for Chairmen of Committees. This is late in the day for those of us who have put much time and effort into the matters at stake.
Under the terms of the Public Processions (Northern Ireland) Act 1998, the Parades Commission is required to issue a code of conduct, procedural rules and guidelines. It is also required to keep those documents under review, and has discretion to revise them from time to time, subject to the consideration of the House and of another place.
The orders are a consequence of such a review. The original documents issued by the commission were laid before Parliament on 23 February 1998, just days after it had assumed its full statutory powers. The commission now has the 1998 marching season behind it, and many major parades in the 1999 season have also passed. With the benefit of that experience, the commission believes that the original documents can be improved on.
As all Committee members will know, parades in Northern Ireland are the subject of strongly held views on both sides of the community. Consequently, the commission works in a highly charged environment, and it has inevitably been much criticised, especially, but not exclusively, by the Orange Order. Those criticisms are well known, and it is not for me to outline them for the Committee's benefit{**mrl**}I shall leave that to others.
Mr. William Thompson (West Tyrone): Will the Minister tell us about any parades adjudicated on by the commission which are not Orange Order parades?
Mr. Ingram: I will provide details to the Committee, but it is probably better for me to do so in my winding-up speech. It is important that we can be precise and accurate about all the parades considered. The Parades Commission considers the whole range of applications submitted to it.
I was saying that the commission receives many criticisms, which are not exclusively from the Orange Order, although it is recognised that that body makes heavy criticism. Those criticisms are ill judged and ill founded. The Government are clear that members of the commission have an extremely difficult task, which they strive to carry out even-handedly and in the best interests of all the people of Northern Ireland.
Since it was first established, the commission has received notification of more than 6,000 parades. It has found it necessary to issue route restrictions in respect of fewer than 200 applications. The commission was notified of 616 parades that took place between 10 and 15 July this year. It issued 46 decisions in respect of those parades, 26 of which consisted of route restrictions. Those statistics are significant and are usually overlooked by those commenting on the commission's work.
The commission's first year with full powers was undoubtedly difficult. All of us will remember last year's scenes at Drumcree. Particularly tragic was the murder of the three young Quinn boys, which was associated with events at Portadown and Drumcree. Our thoughts are with the Quinn family, who must feel that loss particularly strongly at this time of year.
In the year that followed, because of the stand-off at Drumcree, Royal Ulster Constabulary officer Frankie O'Reilly was murdered, more than 200 other RUC officers were injured and 73 officers were forced to leave their homes. That does not include the four families who had to flee their homes because they had sons or daughters who were members of the RUC. The majority of the community in Portadown is prevented from leading a normal day-to-day life, and the residents of the Garvaghy Road have had to endure a wholly unacceptable living environment because of the level of sectarian threat against them. The cost in human terms is appalling, and a damning indictment of the actions of a small minority of extremists who do not represent the wishes of the decent majority of people in Northern Ireland.
However, many parades passed off peacefully last year and a different climate has prevailed this summer, resulting in a markedly different outcome. That has owed much to the dignified and disciplined behaviour of the Orange Order. Although the order still declines to engage with the commission or, in the main, to talk face to face with residents, it has, under protest, abided by the commission's determinations and has urged its membership and supporters to uphold the law.
That is reflected in the security statistics. The comparisons between this year and last year make striking reading. I do not intend to go through all the statistics, but I should like to highlight some of them. In 1998, the figure for public order incidents stood at 614; for this year, it is 43. There were 625 petrol bombing incidents in 1998; this year the figure is 17. The figure for criminal damage to homes was 137 last year; this year it is 29. The figure for plastic baton rounds fired by the security forces, which usually reflects the level of public disorder on the streets, was 823 last year; this year it is one.
Those figures give a flavour of the substantial change that has taken place. That outcome is due in large part to the painstaking and responsible way in which the commission, under its chairman Alistair Graham, has carried out its responsibilities. He and his colleagues have our gratitude. As Mr. Graham recently said, it is important that the peaceful atmosphere that has prevailed so far this year should be built on for the future.
I turn specifically to the orders. In the light of experience to date, the commission believes that procedural changes are necessary. The orders give effect to its considered opinion on changes that are designed to enhance its operational effectiveness. They deal with the commission's code of conduct, procedural rules and guidelines, and give effect to the revised versions of the commission's statutory documents. They were laid before the House on 30 June.
Because the orders are so closely related, it is right that we should consider all three together. I stress to the Committee that many of the amendments, which are set out in the revised documents, are simply good housekeeping on the part of the commission. As the commission is under an obligation to review and revise the documents, it has taken the opportunity to update them where necessary and make minor grammatical changes, which would not by themselves merit revision of the documents. I do not propose to take up the Committee's time with those housekeeping changes.
All members of the Committee have received a copy of the revised documents, together with a paper highlighting the proposed changes. Some of those changes are important, and are designed to streamline the system. For example, changes to the procedural rules reflect the commission's experience of the limitations of the formal evidence-gathering procedure. Considerable effort was initially expended on arranging evidence-gathering sessions, with sometimes only two or three people attending to give evidence. The revised procedural rules provide for that procedure to be retained, but only as an option and where appropriate. The commission will continue to welcome all evidence, information and advice, which assists it in reaching its final decisions. The changes of the greatest substance reflect the experience of the past year.
Paragraph 4.2 of the guidelines for commission members originally provided that, as a general rule, the commission would regard the commercial centres of towns and cities as neutral zones and be inclined to support the case for processions.
Experience has shown that provision to be factually inaccurate. Commercial premises have owners and employees, all of whom come from one tradition or the other, and town centres are evenly balanced in sufficiently few cases for the provision to be unsafe, even as a general rule. Under the revised procedures, the commission will consider the demographic balance among the residents in the immediate area surrounding any contested parts of a route.
If, the area is genuinely neutral, the commission's determination will reflect that.
Section 4 of the procedural rules originally provided for the commission to express a preliminary view about parades in a particular location. However, by the end of the 1998 marching season, the commission had issued determinations in respect of all the areas in which contentious parades take place. Its view for each location is, therefore, known. In addition, its annual report effectively provides a de facto preliminary view. A formal preliminary view, as originally envisaged, is now deemed to be unnecessary.
Paragraph 1.2 of the introduction to the guidelines lists factors to which the commission shall have regard in determining whether to impose conditions on a parade. A new paragraph that was inserted after that list reflects an Appeal Court ruling to the effect that the commission is not restricted to having regard exclusively to those factors.
Having produced its amendments in draft form at the end of January, the Parades Commission engaged in an extensive consultation exercise. It was originally intended that Parliament should consider the present statutory instruments in April this year. The commission agreed, however, to defer submission of its documents at the request of several of its consultees so that they might give a fuller response.
It is now appropriate to proceed with the revisions to the documents. One factor is the considerable increase in the number of parades being notified.
On average, the commission has recorded a 50 per cent. increase this year over last. Between 1 April 1998 and 31 March 1999, it received notification of 3,211 parades. Already since 1 April this year, more than 2,900 parades have been notified to take place.
If that trend continues, the commission can expect to receive notification of approximately 2,400 parades between 1 August this year and 31 March next year.
The documents before as provide for an even- handed and impartial system, to the benefit of both sides of the community.
As many of the amendments are designed to streamline the system, they will benefit both the commission and those who organise and take part in parades.
It is in everyone's interest that they are made at the earliest opportunity.
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