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Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Bill

I fear that the comity goes straightaway. On the one hand, my noble friend seems to be saying that it is for defence counsel to decide—that is what is contained in the letter, as I understand it—but that, on the other, there will be flexibility, which, according to the wording of the clause, means that the court could bar defence counsel from seeing a witness. That seems to me the straight answer to the short point that the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, raised, and it gives me enormous anxiety. Although one does not want to be so prescriptive that one cannot be flexible when circumstances arise that require it, essential matters of principle are involved. As the Court of Appeal said, requiring counsel to cross-examine an anonymous witness is like punching at air. What we are doing here is not just punching in the air; we are turning counsel round, facing him in the wrong direction and blindfolding him as well. In my submission there must be restraint in the wide, unfettered discretion that this clause gives. It gives me little confidence to know that that power remains in the Bill. I hope that in the 10 minutes between the end of the Committee stage and when we start the next stage of the Bill, there may yet be a chance for the noble and learned Baroness, who wrote the letter, to look again at this matter to see whether minor adjustments to the relevant wording could be made to alleviate the anxiety that I and the General Council of the Bar feel about the clause as it is drafted. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Clause 3 [Applications]: