Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Lab)

Can I just finish so that questions can be asked at the end? The noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, tabled Amendment 921ZB about King’s Counsel. The choice of who should be within the legal grouping is for the sponsors, not the Government. My noble friend Lady Levitt is right when she says that it is a question for me, not the Government. The Government are not saying that it is unworkable. They are saying that it is for the sponsor to decide. The choice of King’s Counsel and specified judges or former judges is to provide a wide enough pool from which to draw legal advisers. As far as King’s Counsel are concerned, we think that by becoming King’s Counsel they have proved that they have sufficient quality to be the chair of such a panel. It is intended to mean King’s Counsel from England and Wales. I do not think it allows for people from other jurisdictions, but I will check, and if it does allow for other jurisdictions, I will restrict it to England and Wales because that is the intention. In her Amendment 932A the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, suggests that it should not necessarily be the lawyer who chairs the panel. The reason why the lawyer is put in the driving seat as the chair is because the panel has to comply with the duties imposed on it by the statute. Lawyers are certainly not necessarily the best chairs, but putting a lawyer in the chair will make sure that the panel focuses on its legal requirements. Those are my limited comments on the whole thing. The noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, had a question for me.