Habeas Corpus Amendment Bill

I move, That the Habeas Corpus Amendment Bill be now read a second time. This bill makes technical, but important, amendments to one of the most vital writs of law. This is not something that is done lightly, but the bill did arrive in this House and now returns to this Chamber benefiting from a strong foundation of being rooted in the recommendations of the Law Commission and now benefiting from the feedback of the Justice and Electoral Committee. This is an important piece of legislation. It is relatively small. It is very precise. It is quite legalistic, but it was as a result of speaking to the commissioner. When we asked him at a Justice and Electoral Committee meeting how much of the commission’s revised legislation was adopted by the House, he said that they were totally dependent on members picking up the bills and putting them forward. So I said: “Well, I’ll put one forward.”

The Habeas Corpus Amendment Bill goes back to the Magna Carta, item No. 39—and I have a copy of it here—which says that “No freeman shall be taken and imprisoned, outlawed, banished, or in any way destroyed, nor will we proceed against or prosecute him, except by the lawful judgment of his equals and by the law of the land.” So it is not a light thing. It ensured that the subjects of the King could not have their freedom interrupted without cause. We have just heard the bill preceding this one that was introduced to the House where, basically, there is a call for justice or for consideration by the people of Golden Bay. I am very pleased to hear that that bill has come forward. It is much along the same lines.

The Habeas Corpus Amendment Bill was the subject of comment from other parties who said that a member’s bill should, in fact, involve arduous time—the night hours being used up, I think, was Kennedy Graham’s comment. He imagined me sweating over this. The reality is that when you look at members’ bills that come forward, I would encourage the members to use the time of Parliament wisely and have assistance with the drafting, because so often when members spend their time in the night hours and do not seek the help of drafting officers, then the jolly things have to be re-engineered at the select committee consideration to make sure that they work properly, or else they disappear altogether.

I was grateful to the Hon Annette King, who spoke after me when I did the first reading of this bill, who said how good it was that Labour benefited from Charles Chauvel’s law firm preparing bills for them, so that they could put them forward. I am not sure quite how many have passed through. I understand Labour said that it had a policy for handling Law Commission bills. I do not think it processed any when it was in Government.

So I am quite proud—I am quite proud of this—that the bill is coming forward. I am grateful to the members of the Justice and Electoral Committee, who have introduced some improvements and who considered it very carefully. I think this is a bill that I would recommend and commend to the House, so that it can be enacted and brought into practice forthwith. Thank you.

Debate interrupted.