Member

I know that, had he been able to be present, my noble friend would have wanted to ascertain how it would be interpreted outside the commercial environment because, when he asked the Public Bills Office whether it would allow the president simply to grant the order applied for, circumventing the process outlined in the rest of the new clause, and/or to direct other judges, and/or to adjudicate on whether the application should be heard or not, the Public Bills Office was unable to provide advice as to exactly how the courts would interpret this. So my noble friend Lord Farmer would be very grateful if the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, could explain in his closing remarks the use of the word “may”.