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Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill

My Lords, if noble Lords look at Condition A, they will see that that is the fourth species dealt with, because it is in the interests of justice that those who undertake undercover processes or need the cloak of anonymity for that reason should have it. I believe that there is general assent that that has been an appropriate way forward and has not caused unfairness, because the issue is not the credibility of the witness but the accuracy of what the witness said. It matters not whether the officer is called Jones, Brown, Scotland, Lester or whatever; it is the content of the information that they give and the ability to challenge it. I do not believe that that issue has caused anxiety. The area of anxiety appears to have been credibility. Attention has been focused on whether in those circumstances there could be a fair trial and whether sufficient safeguards exist to make sure that that comes forward. A number of noble Lords, not least the noble Lord, Lord Marlesford, mentioned retrospectivity. I understand the discomfort of the noble Lord, Lord Kingsland, but he would be right to be comforted. The clauses that deal with appeals and existing cases do not retrospectively validate orders made before the commencement of the legislation; instead, they allow the receiving courts to decide whether the orders made would now be permitted. The report of the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution states at paragraph 18: "““We consider that as a matter of British constitutional practice, there is an acceptable basis for the provision in clause 12 barring appeals succeeding on the sole ground that a court before the commencement of the Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill lacked legal power to impose an order for witness anonymity. The public interest outweighs a defendant’s interest in benefiting from a past defect in the trial process given that there is an express requirement for the appeal court to consider whether, overall, the trial was fair””." We think that the matter has been adequately dealt with. The noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, was concerned about the police offering anonymity too freely to the witness, which ties the hands of the judge. The point was made earlier, too. The Crown Prosecution Service, the National Policing Improvement Agency and the Metropolitan Police are developing guidelines on the circumstances in which it would appropriate to apply for witness anonymity orders. They are discussing the contents of the guidance and will be informed of concerns about the practice that had developed before the House of Lords judgment in Davis and what your Lordships have said in relation to it.