THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF CLERKS-AT-THE-TABLE IN COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTS EDITED BY CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON VOLUME 71 2003 THE SOCIETY OF CLERKS-AT-THE-TABLE IN COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTS HOUSE OF LORDS LONDON SW1A 0PW © The Society of Clerks-at-the-Table in Commonwealth Parliaments 2003 ISBN 0 904979 28 8 ISSN 0264-7133 CONTENTS Editorial 5 Executive Accountability in the ‘Children Overboard’ Affair 13 DR SARAH BACHELARD House of Lords: New Ways of Working 28 SIR MICHAEL DAVIES, KCB A v the UK in the European Court of Human Rights [2002] 35 MALCOLM JACK Unusual Proceedings Occasioned by a Loss of Majority in the Yukon Legislative Assembly 41 FLOYD W. MCCORMICK, PH.D. Montserrat’s Response to the Volcano 48 MRS CLAUDETTE WEEKES Maintaining Institutional Memory in the Northern Ireland Assembly– How Much is Experience Worth? 51 JOE REYNOLDS Sitting of Parliament in a Regional Area 57 IAN THOMPSON and ANNETTE HENERY some reflections on harnessing new technologies in the service of parliamentary democracy 63 FRANÇOIS CÔTÉ and CHARLES A. BOGUE Crossing of the Floor Legislation:The Judgment of the South African Constitutional Court in United Democratic Movement v President of the Republic South Africa and Others 77 JODI-ANNE BORIEN 3 Contents Changing Times 83 GEORGE CUBIE Hereditary Peers’ By-election 87 ANNA MURPHY The Failed Attempts at Electing a Speaker in Trinidad and Tobago 91 JACQUI SAMPSON JACENT Miscellaneous Notes 96 Annual Comparative Study:The Timing of Business and Carry-over 140 Privilege Cases 178 Amendments to Standing Orders 198 Sitting Times 217 Unparliamentary Expressions in 2002 220 Books and Videos on Parliament 225 Index 233 4 THE TABLE The Journal of The Society of Clerks-at-the-Table in Commonwealth Parliaments EDITORIAL Regular readers will already have noticed that this edition of The Table is a slimmer, and, the Editor hopes, more elegant volume than its recent prede- cessors.The slimness is in large part thanks to the trimming of the “List of Members” from the Journal.The list will from now on be circulated sepa- rately. In addition, the formatting of the text has for the first time in some years been entrusted to the printers, rather than being executed “in-House”. The result is a more professional and concisely presented Journal, which in format recalls editions of the 1970s and 80s, produced before the universal introduction of word-processing and camera-ready-copy. Nevertheless, the content of this year’s Table remains weighty. A dozen articles cover the usual range of unusual events and proceedings across the Commonwealth, from a sitting of the Queensland Parliament in a regional area to the impasse reached in Trinidad and Tobago when it proved impossi- ble to elect a Speaker. And this takes no account of the wealth of fascinating incident described under the catch-all heading “Miscellaneous Notes”.The Editor is extremely grateful to all contributors, but would draw particular attention to three articles, which stand out in length without sacrificing quality: François Côté and Charles A. Bogue write about the opportunities and challenges presented by new information technologies; Sarah Bachelard explores how fundamental issues of executive accountability to the Australian Parliament surfaced in the “children overboard” affair; and Michael Davies, one of the most loyal supporters of The Table since he first became Editor in 1968, describes recent administrative and procedural changes in the House of Lords. Readers will also notice that a new name appears as Editor, replacing those of David Batt and Gavin Devine. David has left the House of Lords to work in Brussels. Gavin remains Treasurer of the Society of Clerks-at-the- Table, but in belated recognition of a division of labour that has prevailed for many years his name no longer appears as co-editor. 5 The Table 2003 This is my first opportunity to edit The Table, and I look forward to helping to ensure that the journal remains a valuable reference work for Commonwealth Clerks. If it is to do so, it is vital that Members from across the Commonwealth contribute—not only that they respond to the question- naire, but that they contribute articles and notes on events and subjects of interest in their Parliaments and Assemblies. I am enormously grateful to all those from the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, in particular, who have been prominent in supporting The Table in recent years, and I look forward to continuing to work with them in future. However, the journal’s interest and usefulness depend in large part on the diversity and breadth of experience brought by contributors to its pages. I hope therefore that all Members will be willing in the coming years to share their experience with colleagues by contributing articles and notes. I shall be encouraging them by making personal approaches! Finally, the Editor offers unreserved apologies to all at the New South Wales Legislative Council for the omission of their contribution from the 2002 Table. OBITUARIES Gordon Coombe, CMG,former Clerk of the South Australia House of Assembly, passed away on 10 June 2002. Mr Coombe served as Clerk from 1953 to 1973 and on retirement from the Parliament was appointed the State’s first Ombudsman. He had a distinguished military career during the Second World War and is the author of the invaluable reference work Responsible Government in South Australia. Mr Coombe was 85. RETIREMENTS Sir William McKay, KCB, Clerk of the House of Commons, retired on 31 December 2002. His successor as Clerk, Roger Sands, writes: On 11 December the House held a short debate to mark Bill’s retirement, opened by the Leader of the House; and at the end of the debate the House agreed to a resolution which referred among other things to his “wise contri- bution to the development of the procedure of the House” and his “scholarly research into the history of the House.” These were well-chosen words.With such innovations as sittings in Westminster Hall, routine programming of Government legislation, and now the changes in sitting hours, not to mention the profound constitutional consequences of devolution and the 6 Editorial Human Rights Act, the House will probably come to be seen as having changed more radically during the five years when Bill was its Clerk than during the whole of the previous 36 years of his career. This was not, of course, at his instigation; but it was under his guidance and oversight. As for his scholarship, Bill was first and foremost a historian. From humble origins in Leith he graduated from Edinburgh University with the top history degree in his year, and his historical perspective was at the centre of his approach to the job of Clerk. He had an unequalled expertise in the difficult field of parliamentary privilege, and had researched and catalogued every Commons Clerk since 1363, when the post of “Under-Clerk of the Parliaments” was first officially designated. He made his own mark on history by being the first Clerk of the House to be designated also as Chief Executive of the House service—a role which he took extremely seriously. Despite 41 years working in the centre of London as a Clerk of the United Kingdom Parliament, Bill’s first loyalty was to his native Scotland, and he always maintained a foothold there. For many years it was a converted croft on the island of Coll (converted largely by his own efforts). During his time as Clerk it was an old smithy in Banffshire to which he commuted most weekends and where his wife Margaret served until recently as the local priest. If devolution to Scotland had taken place in 1978 (as was originally planned) rather than twenty years later, he would probably have ended up as the first Clerk of the Scottish Parliament rather than as the first Scottish Clerk of the UK House of Commons. He ended his speech at the farewell dinner given for him in Speaker’s House with the words: “I am glad to be going home”; and we all believed him. Although I have referred to Bill as having “retired”, the letter that he sent to the Speaker in fact referred to his intention to “resign”.This was because he had another job to go to—a personal professorship in law at the University of Aberdeen, which was rightly a source of great satisfaction and pride for him. Also, to my great relief, he agreed to my request that he should continue as editor of the next edition of Erskine May’s Parliamentary Practice, which had been set in train before his departure.This is now under active preparation and, all being well, should be sent to the press at about the same time as this volume of The Table.The new edition of “May” will be a fitting testimonial to the enormous contribution that Bill has made to the service and study of Parliament during his long career. 7 The Table 2003 Sir Michael Davies, KCB, Clerk of the Parliaments, retired on 14 July 2003. His successor, Paul Hayter, writes: While there will be other opportunities to record Michael’s many achieve- ments at Westminster, this is an occasion first of all to remember his work for the Society of Clerks at the Table in Commonwealth Parliaments. He joined the Parliament Office in the House of Lords in January 1964 and by 1968 his name was already on the opening page of The Table (1966 edition) as joint editor with Richard Lankester.Then volume XXXVI for 1967 appeared over his name alone, and his editorial said that “This is the third volume to be published in the space of one year … [and] this is the first volume in sixteen years to be edited by one Clerk.” It was the beginning of a long period of activity by him which helped to revitalise the Society.