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Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill

My Lords, of course I hear what the noble Viscount says, but two species of cases would cause us difficulty if we did that. There seems to be general assent that the use of test purchases as a means of identifying levels of criminality in relation to drugs and other offences is a right and appropriate way forward, not least because such approaches tend to have a high incidence of pleas of guilty. It is possible that some of those cases will appear before a magistrates’ court. There are also cases of some seriousness that go to juvenile court and which are obviously covered by the same grounds. Breaches of a control order may be of a less serious nature and can properly be dealt with in the magistrates’ court. If there is such a breach, albeit of a lower nature, one can anticipate that in those cases anonymity may well be necessary. Therefore, it is not possible simply to eradicate the need in the lower courts. The noble Lord, Lord Lester, was right to emphasise the need, no matter how grave the case, for fairness to apply. Obviously, there are issues that we will have to continue to consider. We will undertake to look at all of them during the period that will elapse between this legislation and the new legislation that we hope to bring forward.