Committee for Justice OFFICIAL REPORT (Hansard) Coronavirus Bill Legislative Consent Motion: Department of Justice 23 March 2020 NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY Committee for Justice Coronavirus Bill Legislative Consent Motion: Department of Justice 23 March 2020 Members present for all or part of the proceedings: Mr Paul Givan (Chairperson) Mr Doug Beattie Ms Jemma Dolan Mr Gordon Dunne Mr Paul Frew Mr Patsy McGlone Miss Rachel Woods Witnesses: Ms Maura Campbell Department of Justice Ms Clare Irvine Department of Justice Ms Jane Maguire Department of Justice Ms Doreen McClintock Department of Justice Mr Alan Smyth Northern Ireland Prison Service The Chairperson (Mr Givan): I welcome Doreen McClintock, head of operations and resilience planning; Maura Campbell, deputy director of policing policy and strategy division; Jane Maguire, head of family courts and tribunals branch; Clare Irvine, head of judiciary and mental health capacity branch in the civil justice policy division; and Alan Smyth, deputy director of the Northern Ireland Prison Service. I will hand over initially to Doreen and Maura to make their presentation. Members will have questions, and then I will invite Jane and Clare to comment. Ms Doreen McClintock (Department of Justice): I thank the Committee for accommodating this morning's meeting so that we can provide a more detailed update to you on the measures in the Coronavirus Bill that relate to justice and policing functions. I am grateful to my policy colleagues for joining me this morning, and we will try to answer any questions that Committee members have. You are all aware of the evolving situation and have previously been provided with a high-level overview of some of the measures that might be included in the draft Bill to allow us to better manage the response to coronavirus. The Bill is being debated in the House of Commons today and will be subject to a legislative consent motion (LCM) in the Assembly tomorrow. We all understand the fears and uncertainties that people face, given the risks to their health, to their loved ones and to their livelihoods. The emergency Bill gives us the powers that we need to take the right action at the right time to respond effectively to the progress of the outbreak. Our focus today is specifically on the provisions in the Bill that relate to justice functions in Northern Ireland, although the Bill covers the functions of many other Departments, most notably those with responsibilities for health and social care, who are leading on its development. 1 The Bill is targeted at delivering only the new measures that are considered to be necessary and that can be provided only by primary legislation. They are temporary and proportionate to the threat that we face. They will be activated only on the basis of scientific advice and will be in place only for as long as is clinically necessary. The Bill allows the four Governments across the UK jurisdictions to switch on the powers when they are needed and, crucially, to switch them off again when they are no longer necessary. The measures in the Bill fall into five broad categories: measures to contain and slow the virus, such as isolation powers; powers for police and immigration officers or powers to close schools; measures to increase the available Health and Social Care workforce, such as allowing for the temporary registration of suitable health and social care staff or allowing retired staff with the right skills to return to the workplace without impacting on their pensions; measures to ease the legislative and regulatory requirements and, therefore, the burden on front-line staff — some of the justice measures fall into that category; measures to allow us to manage the deceased with respect and dignity, which I will return to in more detail; and measures intended to provide support to people, such as allowing employees to claim statutory sick pay from the first day of absence and supporting the food industry to maintain supplies. The powers relating to policing and justice functions will help to alleviate the administrative burdens on justice functions in the event that widespread absences related to the spread of COVID-19 reduce our capacity to deliver those functions. They include specific measures relating to coroners and inquests to relax requirements relating to notifications to the coroner in cases of death from natural illness or disease, to clarify that there is no requirement for a jury inquest in relation to a death from COVID-19 and to provide that there is no requirement for a jury inquest in relation to a death in prison from natural illness. There are also amendments to the Mental Health (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 and the Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 that will allow greater flexibility in a situation where medical staff may be unable to carry out their usual functions due to pressures caused by coronavirus. They include extensions to the time limits during which a person may be remanded in hospital and modifications relating to the medical evidence required by a court in certain circumstances — for example, before making a determination of unfitness to plead or a direction for recording a finding that a person is not guilty by reason of insanity. The Bill provides powers for courts and tribunals in Northern Ireland to direct the use of live links in respect of participation in any court or tribunal proceedings where the court determines that that is in the interests of justice. It also provides for public participation in proceedings where live links are used through a power to direct that proceedings be broadcast and creates new offences relating to unauthorised recording or transmission in relation to such broadcasts. It also specifically provides for the availability of live links in relation to appeals that are brought in respect of any requirement or restriction made relating to the containment power provided for in the Bill, for the avoidance of any doubt about the new proceedings. The Bill includes powers of direction to enable local government to direct private providers in the death management industry — for example, funeral directors, mortuaries and crematoriums — individuals and services to implement a central plan. The powers are intended to improve throughput to streamline the system at every stage up to burial or cremation. They are sensible, precautionary powers that we need to provide for in the event of a worst-case scenario. In addition to those powers, we have taken precautions to prepare for the risk that the normal burial arrangements are not sufficient. In doing so, we will do all that we can to ensure dignity for the deceased and their families. We must also safeguard public health. In the event that the virus hits Northern Ireland very hard, we have seen elsewhere in the world that that gives rise to challenges that we are working to meet. The Bill will provide the police with additional powers to support actions taken by the relevant health authorities to prevent the spread of coronavirus. They will enable the police to enforce sensible public health restrictions, including returning people to isolation and, where necessary, directing individuals to seek relevant treatment or attend suitable locations for further help. We previously briefed you on the potential for the Bill to include provisions for the early release of certain fixed-term prisoners. Those provisions are a late addition to the legislation. They will provide the DOJ with powers to reduce Northern Ireland's adult prison and juvenile justice centre population, to ensure that any reduction in services caused by staff shortages due to coronavirus can be counterbalanced by the reduction of the population that needs to be managed, and, by doing so, that we continue to provide safe and secure custodial environments. 2 The Bill is drafted so that it will expire automatically two years after it has passed, with some exceptions: for example, the provisions relating to the emergency registration of nurses, healthcare workers, pharmacists and social workers. The Bill also provides powers for Ministers to suspend or revive the operation of any provisions in it via regulations. They can be exercised by UK Government Ministers but only with the consent of Northern Ireland Ministers in so far as they relate to functions that have been devolved to Northern Ireland. The powers are also exercisable by Northern Ireland Ministers where they relate to functions that have been devolved. There is also a power to extend any provision in the Bill for a maximum of six months. Again, that power can be exercised by UK Government Ministers but only with the consent of Northern Ireland Ministers. We previously advised the Committee that, given the urgency, it was possible that the legislation would be made without seeking the legislative consent of the Assembly. However, in recognition of the role of the Assembly in scrutinising important legislative powers that will affect Northern Ireland, an LCM has been prepared. You should already have received a copy of our input to that process, and the motion will be debated in the Assembly tomorrow. I appreciate that this opening statement has been quite lengthy, but we wanted to give Committee members as comprehensive an overview of the provisions in the Bill as possible and will seek to answer any questions that you have. The Chairperson (Mr Givan): Doreen, thank you. I appreciate both the overview and the pressure that the Department is under and the environment that you have to work in. We thank you and commend you for that. I have a query about the prisoner aspect. How is that being incorporated in the LCM? Ms McClintock: Alan will speak on that in more detail.