Section 84: Assembly Acts about judiciary, law officers and prosecutions
159.Subsection (1) amends the Northern Ireland Act 1998 to add to the list of entrenched enactments in section 7 of that Act section 1 of this Act (judicial independence) and this section. These provisions of the Act therefore cannot therefore be modified by the Assembly or by a Minister of the Assembly.
160.The effect of subsection (2) is to require that, after devolution of justice functions, any Bill of the Northern Ireland Assembly that deals with certain matters relating to the judiciary, prosecution service or Attorney General for Northern Ireland will require cross-community support. Section 4(5) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 defines cross-community support as -
the support of a majority of members voting, a majority of the designated Nationalists voting and a majority of the designated Unionists voting; or
the support of 60 per cent of the members voting, 40 per cent of the designated Nationalists voting and 40 per cent of the designated Unionists voting.