Derek McDowell (Labour)

It was not my intention to specifically provide for a softening, it was merely aimed at giving judges discretion. The Minister rightly points out that, even if one takes it as a one day closure, if the court decides to close the pub or supermarket on a Monday, it would have quite a different effect than if they decide to close it on a Saturday. It would be open to the District Court justice to make the penalty much tougher by, for example, selecting a Saturday, rather than a Monday, for the closure. Rather than just leaving it haphazardly, as the Bill does at present, to the number of days following the conviction, it should be a matter of discretion for the judge to decide whether the penalty should be harsher or weaker, depending on the circumstances of the offence in the first instances.