Official Report: Minutes of Evidence

The Deputy Chairperson (Ms Sheerin): I remind members that, at last week's meeting, following completion of clause-by-clause scrutiny of the Justice Bill, they were advised that the Committee team would prepare a draft Committee report on the Bill for consideration and agreement at today's meeting.

A copy of the draft report was emailed to you yesterday morning, and it can be found in the tabled pack. Any typos or formatting errors in the draft report will be amended at the proofing stage, before the final report is circulated to all MLAs and published on the Committee web page. If you have noticed any typos, it will be helpful if you can email the Committee team directly with the details after the meeting rather than mention them during our consideration of the draft report today.

Do members have any proposed amendments to suggest to the draft report? I will take the silence as a no.

I will leave the executive summary until the rest of the report has been agreed. Are members content that the title page, the contents page and the Committee powers and membership page stand part of the report?

The Deputy Chairperson (Ms Sheerin): Are members content that the list of abbreviations and acronyms used, which is on page 5, stand part of the report?

The Deputy Chairperson (Ms Sheerin): Are members content that the introduction, which includes sections on pre-introductory scrutiny, the Justice Bill and the Committee approach and is at paragraphs 15 to 37, stand part of the report?

The Deputy Chairperson (Ms Sheerin): Are members content that the section on the Committee's consideration of the provisions of the Bill, which covers Parts 1 to 5 as introduced and is at paragraphs 38 to 244, stand part of the report?

The Deputy Chairperson (Ms Sheerin): Are members content that the section on the Committee's consideration of the planned ministerial amendments to the Bill, which is at paragraphs 245 to 319, stand part of the report?

The Deputy Chairperson (Ms Sheerin): Are members content that the section on the Committee's consideration of other matters not in the Bill, which is at paragraphs 320 to 349, stand part of the report?

The Deputy Chairperson (Ms Sheerin): Are members content that the section on the Committee's clause-by-clause scrutiny of the Bill, which is at paragraphs 350 to 442, stand part of the report?

The Deputy Chairperson (Ms Sheerin): Are members content that the executive summary, which is at paragraphs 1 to 14, stand part of the report?

The Deputy Chairperson (Ms Sheerin): I inform members that the documents to be included in the appendices have been listed in the draft report for members' information. Papers will not be listed in that way. Rather, they will appear under links to appendices in the published version of the report. The brief is really killing me with the word "appendices" here. Are members content that the section on links to appendices, which runs from page 187 to page 206, stand part of the report?

The Deputy Chairperson (Ms Sheerin): I seek members' agreement for the minutes of today's meeting to be added to appendix 1, when agreed. Are members content?

The Deputy Chairperson (Ms Sheerin): I seek members agreement for the report to be published on the Committee web page and issued to all MLAs. Are members content?

The Deputy Chairperson (Ms Sheerin): I seek members' agreement to circulate a link to the report to the individuals and organisations that provided evidence to the Committee on the Justice Bill. Are members content?

The Deputy Chairperson (Ms Sheerin): I thank the Committee team, the Bill Clerk, Hansard, Assembly Legal Services, the Examiner of Statutory Rules, the Communications Office and all the other Assembly staff who assisted the Committee during its scrutiny of the Justice Bill. I am sure that all members will join me in thanking them.